MICHIE, Alexander.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Englishman in China During the Victorian Era. First edition, first impression, scarce in this condition with ex-library copies more commonly encountered. This life and times of one of Victorian Britain's leading representatives in China offers "a clear and comprehensive account of European relations with China" and rejecting the wisdom of recent British policy towards the imperial court (ODNB).Alexander Michie (1833-1902) left Scotland at the age of 20 to work as a merchant in Hong Kong, working his way upwards to a position with Jardine, Matheson. "Michie was active in acquiring commercially valuable information. After the drafting of the treaty of Tientsin (Tianjin), ratified in 1860, which proposed to open new ports in the north of China, Michie engaged in a secret trading expedition to the Gulf of Pecheli (Beizhili) in the spring of 1859, and was one of the first European traders to gain direct knowledge of Weihaiwei, Chefoo (Yantai), Newchwang (Yingkou), and other places on that then unexplored coast" (ibid.). During the Taiping rebellion, he assisted Admiral Sir James Hope in his negotiations, staying in the rebel camp for several weeks to gather valuable military intelligence. In later years, he served as the Times correspondent in China, including during the Sino-Japanese War.In this survey, Michie controversially criticised 19th-century British policy vis-a-vis China. "It is the belief of the author that the so-called Chinese mystery has been a source of needless

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