Description:

Colonial Boston
Boston, MA, May 1785
Trade With China! May 1785 Issue of the "Boston Magazine" Reports on First Trading Vessel to China
Pamphlet/Booklet

A first edition copy of the Boston Magazine's May 1785 issue which reports on early trade with China, among other significant topics. 40pp. 12 mo, 5" x 8". Boston: Greenleaf and Freeman, 1785. Printed from 1783 to 1786, The Boston Magazine was one of the first American publications established after the Revolution. Issue lacks original covers but is otherwise complete. Exhibits degrees of uneven toning and foxing throughout, with expected wear to edges. Exposed binding. Overall, a very good example.

Highlighted articles include news from major American cities, the publishing of the "Memoirs of Dr. Samuel Johnson", poetry, and a detailed listed of the proposed members of the Branches of Government for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (including Samuel Adams). Of particular note, however, is the news that the trading vessel "Empress of China" returned from her mission to the far east, becoming the first such ship to do so.

An excerpt from page 196 reads:

"Capt. Green, is arrived at New York, from Canton in China, in 4 months, and 9 days- this passage is one of the greatest nautical prodigies we ever recollect hearing, especially when it is considered that she touched at the Cape of Good Hope on her homeward passage. The Empress of China is the first vessel belonging to the United States, that has ventured so far east."

"Empress of China" was a three-masted, square-rigged sailing ship of 360 tons initially built in 1783 for service as a privateer. After the Treaty of Paris brought a formal end to the American Revolutionary War, the vessel was refitted for commercial purposes. Captained by former U.S. naval officer John Green (1736-1796) and owned by a syndicate which included merchants Robert Morris (1734-1806) and Samuel Selden Miles (1739-1805), the vessel departed from New York on February 22, 1784. The goal of the trading mission was to bring back the sorely missed commodity of tea, as well as to encourage other American merchants to dispatch vessels for similar pursuits.

The United States' first consul in China, Bostonian and former Continental Army officer Samuel Shaw (1754-1794), also arrived in the port of Canton on the Empress of China. Shaw was invaluable in negotiating the sale of the Empress' cargo, which consisted mainly of silver specie and ginseng for trade. Indeed, the Americans would have to compete with several European nations already trading under the Canton System, including the British, Dutch, French and Danish. By 1803, American vessels outnumbered all other Western nations in their trade with China, although their 300-ton vessels were significantly smaller than that of the East India Company's 1,200 tons.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 5" x 8"
  • Medium: Pamphlet/Booklet

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