Life and Resources in America by Arinori Mori - 1871

Washington, D.C.: No publisher stated, 1871. 1/2 leather. Very Good. From Japan's first ambassador to the United States, the 1871 1st edition of this very scarce pro-Western report, "for circulation in Japan". WARMLY INSCRIBED BY AMBASSADOR ARINORI MORI on the front blank endpaper and handsomely re-bound in a late 19th century 1/2 black leather over dark-brown bevelled boards. 4 raised bands, gilt-lettering along the spine. Tight and VG to VG+, with very light foxing at the preliminaries, a touch of scuffing to the spine and light wear to the outer hinges Thick octavo, marbled endpapers, engraved frontispiece of Ulysses S. Grant as well as 5 tipped-in albumen photographs. (In fact, the listing of this title in Howes [Howes M809] notes the frontispiece portrait of Grant but doesn't even mention the 5 albumen photographs). Ambassador Mori, famously, called for the adoption of English as Japan's national language and would ultimately pay with his life for such extreme pro-Western views, having been assassinated by Japanese ultra-nationalists in 1889.