A succinct account of the adventures of Mr William Adams.

1744

Hocken Collections Bliss: Double Oversize - KU7 H

s2

London : printed for T. Woodward, A. Ward, S. Birt, D. Browne, T. Longman, R. Hett, C. Hitch, H. Whitridge, S. Austen, J. Hodges, J. Robinson, B. Dod, T. Harris, J. Hinton, and J. Rivington.

William Adams (1564-1620) was the first Englishman to reach Japan, arriving on a Dutch ship at Bungo (a principality containing present day Usuki City) in May 1600. After a summons by the Emperor at Osaka, imprisonment and interrogation, he was released. The Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu took a liking to Adams and he eventually became an important trade adviser and interpreter. A status and name change from Adams the English sea pilot to Miura Anjin the samurai enabled him to marry a Japanese woman and reside on a large estate at Hemi, near Yokosuka. His first communication to his European wife and friends was in 1611 where he noted: "The people of this Island of Japan are Good of Nature, courteous above Measure, and Valiant in War ...". His account of Japanese life was first published in Purchas his Pilgrimes (1625) the account in Harris is a later printing. James Clavell's novel Shogun (1975) was based loosely on Adams' life and adventures.

Harris, John, 1667?-1719

Navigantium atque itinerantium bibliotheca. Or, a complete collection of Voyages and travels : Consisting of above six hundred of the most authentic writers, beginning Hackluit, Purchass, etc. in English; Ramusio, Alamandini, Carreri, etc. in Italian; Thevenot, Benaudot, Labat, etc. in French; De Brye, Grynaeus, Maffeus, etc. in Latin; Herrera, Oviedo, Coreal, etc. in Spanish; and the voyages under the direction of the East-India Company in Holland, in Dutch. Together with such other histories (London : printed for T. Woodward, A. Ward, S. Birt, D. Browne, T. Longman, R. Hett, C. Hitch, H. Whitridge, S. Austen, J. Hodges, J. Robinson, B. Dod, T. Harris, J. Hinton, and J. Rivington, 1744)

eng

Navigantium atque itinerantium bibliotheca. Or, a complete collection of Voyages and travels