Japan Expedition Press : three printings made on board United States Steam Frigate “Powhatan” and “Mississippi”, dated May 8th, June 28th and September 4th, 1854.

Three rare Japan Expedition Press imprints printed in Hong Kong and at sea, including the critically important letter from Perry to the Emperor of Japan, accompanying the letter from the President of the United States.

Printed at sea on board the U.S.S. Powhatan off the coast of Japan in May, 1854, on the small press supplied to Commodore Perry’s expedition by the State Department, which had arrived in Hong Kong on the storeship Lexington at the end of 1853, prior to Perry’s second Japan visit.

I. Japan Expedition Press. U. S. Steam Frigate Powhatan, Sumoda, Japan, May 8th, 1854. Letter from Commodore Perry, accompanying that from the President of the United States, to His Imperial Majesty The Emperor of Japan, 1854. (Signed) M. C. Perry, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Naval forces in the East India, China and Japan Seas. (not in Morison). Printed on buff paper. 343 x 209 mm.

Provenance : Christie’s, Printed Books and Manuscripts. From the Estate of John F. Fleming. Friday, November 18, 1988, lot 48 (USD $11,000, this example)

Printed at sea on board the U.S.S. Mississippi in June, 1854, on the small press supplied to Commodore Perry’s expedition by the State Department, which had arrived in Hong Kong on the storeship Lexington at the end of 1853, prior to Perry’s second Japan visit.

II. Japan Expedition Press. U. S. Steam Frigate Mississippi, At Sea, June 28th, 1854. Regulations representing pilots, and the supplying of American vessels entering the port of Sumoda (text in English and Dutch). Silas Bent, Flag Lieutenant. (Signed,) Kura-Kawa-Kahei, Lieutenant Governor. Approved, M. C. Perry, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Naval forces in the East India, China and Japan Seas.  (Morison: Kress Library, Harvard Business School). Printed on buff paper. 343 x 209 mm.

III. Japan Expedition Press. U.S. Steam Frigate Mississippi, Hong Kong, Sept. 4th, 1854. Sailing Directions for Yedo. By Lieut. Wm. L. Maury, U.S. Navy. By order of Commodore M. C. Perry. Silas Bent, Flag Lieutenant (Morison: Philadelphia Maritime Museum; U. S. N. Records, Kress Library, Harvard Business School). Printed in blue paper. 320 x 196 mm.

Three broadsides, folio, printed letterpress on washi mulberry tissue paper or blue rag paper; headlines printed in a large ornamental display type, with a vignette beneath of the American eagle; text in two columns in roman type; each example with old fold lines and signs of mounting tape verso, housed in a handsome custom clamshell box.

‘Since the State Department had not seen fit to supply paper for the press, the Commodore wrote to his flag interpreter, the sinologist S. Wells Williams, “in great haste” on 4 January 1854, begging him to procure paper at Canton. Perry’s paymaster had already purchased “a quantity” of European-made paper at Hong Kong but not enough for probable needs. Williams procured a lot of the flimsiest sort of mulberry-leaf paper and some blue rag paper, which Perry used to splice out his insufficient supply of low-quality white stock bought in Hong Kong. The press was capable of printing only single sheets of about 6 by 8 inches, but by running double sheets through twice, a number of two-page leaflets were produced. Perry used the press for three purposes: (i) to print sailing directions for the harbors and coasts of Japan and Okinawa (“the Great Lew Chew”) which his officers had surveyed; (2) to disseminate throughout the Squadron copies of official documents, such as President Fillmore’s Letter to the Emperor and the treaty with Okinawa; and (3) to print playbills for theatrical performances on board his ships. The sailing directions are evidence of Perry’s desire to help all ships of all nations. He did not keep them for his own country’s vessels; they were reprinted in his official Report, in the Hong Kong newspapers, and elsewhere.‘ (Morison, p. 35).

Reference: S. E. Morison, Commodore Perry’s Japan Expedition Press and Shipboard Theatre. In: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society. Worcester, Mass. Vol. 77, Iss. 1,  (Jan 1, 1967): 35-43.