With Commodore Perry to Japan: The Journal of William Speiden Jr., 18521855

With Commodore Perry to Japan offers a personal account of Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perrys expedition to Japan through the eyes of a sixteen-year-old pursers clerk of the USS Mississippi. The documentary edition, endorsed by the National Historic Publications & Records Commission, provides excellent coverage of both the political mission of the Perry expedition, the opening of relations with Japan, and of the social history of a naval warship as well. Also included are fifty-five illustrations ranging from hand drawn, pen-and-ink scenes of everyday life sketched by Speiden and other members of the crew to exquisitely colored and detailed pith paintings by Chinese artists. See more