First edition. Small octavo, pp. 547, with wood-engraved frontispiece, 40 full-page engraved plates and 21 wood-engravings in text, many from photographs and many from earlier works. Bound in publisher's green cloth, cover and spine blocked and decorated in black and illustrated and lettered in gilt, rear cover embossed. Corner creasing on pp 161-71. Some discolouration to top corner of rear board, a little rubbing to spine extremities, boards bright and clean, gilt bright, binding tight and square, overall a Very Good Plus or better copy. There is a careful and light penciled name and address to first blank dated 1954 which I have chosen to leave but could easily be erased.

Wiley (1825-1884) was in Foochow as a Medical Missionary from 1851 to -1854, returned to the US and from 1872 was elevated to bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He toured both China and Japan in an official capacity in 1877-78. As bishop, he was one of the founders of Wiley College, the first and oldest historically Black college west of the Mississippi River, located in Mrshall, Texas. The book contains good accounts of other American, British and foreign missions and missionaries in China and Japan .