| Description |
xvi, 253 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm |
| Contents |
Introduction: Opening China -- Pt. 1. Travel and the Business of Empire. 1. Gathering in China: Robert Fortune. 2. Westward the Course of Empire: Archibald John Little -- Pt. 2. Globetrotters in China. 3. An Unbiased Stranger: Constance Gordon Cumming. 4. The Pen and the Sword: Major Henry Knollys. 5. In Search of Elysium: Isabella Bird (Mrs. Bishop) -- Pt. 3. Women of Empire. 6. Orientalizing Feminism: Mrs. Archibald Little (A. E. N. Bewicke) -- Conclusion: An Opened China |
| Summary |
Three men and three women - a plant collector, a merchant and his novelist wife, a military officer, and two famous women travelers - went to China between the Opium War and the formal end of the Opium trade, 1842-1907. Their travel records and novels became a significant source of many of the West's impressions of that far-off land. All of the writers had a degree of contemporary importance or fame and represented different views that lent significance to their writing about China. Robert Fortune, a horticulturalist, and Archibald Little, a merchant, represent travel and the business of empire. Constance Gordon Cumming, Henry Knollys, and Isabella Bird Bishop were adventure travelers. Alicia Little, wife and novelist, helpmeet and humanitarian, was a woman of empire |
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Susan Schoenbauer Thurin's study of these writings presents a rich tapestry of impressions, biases, and cultural perspectives that inform our own understanding of the Victorians and their views of the world outside their own |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-245) and index |
| SUBJECT |
China -- Description and travel. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85024006
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China -- History -- 19th century. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85024087
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China -- Relations http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2008114661 -- Great Britain.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79023147
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Great Britain http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79023147 -- Relations http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh00007590 -- China.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79091151
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| LC no. |
98043661 |
| ISBN |
082141268X alkaline paper |
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