SAN DOMINGO: PEN PICTURES AND LEAVES OF TRAVEL, ROMANCE, AND HISTORY, FROM THE PORTFOLIO OF A CORRESPONDENT IN THE AMERICAN TROPICS.
Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen & Raffelfinger, 1870. First Edition. With a two-page autograph letter from Keim tipped-in after the copyright page. Dated Washington, DC, Nov. 23, 1880, the letter is addressed to “Dear Taylor”- believed to be James Hudson Taylor. Keim writes that he just returned from Philadelphia and received Taylor’s sketch “Presents of the Chinese Embassy.” He discusses working with Anson Burlingame and that he has a very nice autographed letter from Burlingame thanking him for his services “rendered the Embassy in the U.S. through the Herald.” He discusses arrangement of figures at the Chinese Embassy that are “very vigorously treated.” He thanks Taylor for the sketch he sent and states that his address will remain in Washington, DC. Keim’s signature, clipped from a letter, is also tipped-in opposite the title page. De Benneville Randolph Keim (also known as De B. Randolph Keim) was a 19th-century journalist who became a war-time confidant of Ulysses S. Grant and remained an advisor to Grant through his presidency. In 1870, he was appointed by Grant as a special agent charged with inspecting America's consular offices in Asia, China, Egypt, and South America. The letter is believed to be written to James Hudson Taylor [1832–1905), who was a British Protestant Christian Missionary to China and founder of the China Inland Mission. Taylor spent 51 years in China and was a prolific writer. Anson Burlingame [1820–1870] was an American lawyer, Republican/American Party legislator, diplomat, and abolitionist. As diplomat, he served as the U.S. minister to China (1862-1867) and then as China's envoy to the U.S., which resulted in the 1868 landmark Burlingame Treaty. The letter is a little too large for the size of the book and the very right edges are a bit worn. An interesting copy of a very scarce title! I have been unable to locate any copies for sale in the marketplace. Small 8vo., embossed green cloth, stamped in gilt on spine; 336 pages. Item #57215
Very Good (covers bright with little crack exterior front hinge; contents clean & tight).
Price: $350.00