Rare! 1913 Manuscript Handwritten Travel Diary China Korea Japan Trans Siberian First visits Forbidden City Temple of Heaven after Qing

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Seller: amb_bookseller ✉️ (206) 0%, Location: California, US, Ships to: WORLDWIDE, Item: 201923892517 Rare! 1913 Manuscript Handwritten Travel Diary China Korea Japan Trans Siberian . 1913 handwritten manuscript travel diary of a 42 day journey from Manila to London via steamship and rail, touring through Japan, Korea, China, Siberia, Russia, and Europe, visiting Nagasaki, Seoul, Darien, Peking, Moscow, Warsaw, Stuttgart, and London, includes a rare account of the very earliest tourist visits to China’s Imperial Palaces after the end of Imperial rule, and an account of travel on the Peking-Mukden-Trans Siberian railway.  Manila to London, 1913.  Original manuscript rebound in cloth and paper covered boards. 32 pages of manuscript.  9-1/2” x 7-1/4” inches in size.  Good+. This handwritten diary is of a 42 day trip taken by an American sporting goods merchant from Manila, P.I. named Roy W. Squires.  Accompanied by his wife Daisy, their son, and three traveling companions they toured through Japan, Korea, China, Siberia, Russia, and Europe via steamships, the Peking-Mukden-Trans Siberian railway, and rail through Europe.  The diary is entirely about their 42 day trip, with a few hunting related entries while in Korea. The identity of the diarist is unknown although it is likely a woman in the group who is related to Squires (but not his wife Daisy.   Of interest to historians and researchers are the six and a half pages about China. These include a rare early account from the first groups of Western tourists to visit the Forbidden City and The Temple of Heaven after the end of Imperial rule. These first tourist visits occurred during a brief period of time in 1913 when the Imperial Palaces were first opened to the public.  This period lasted only five months, after which time, President Yuan Shikai terminated public access, because of his own plans to restore monarchy, and make himself the Hongxian emperor. It is noted, that this diarist does use derogatory terms that were fairly common at the time. While these terms are shocking to the modern reader, one must also consider the importance of not deselecting, or whitewashing away a primary source such as this.   Indeed, this manuscript is representative of the very ideal and purpose of collecting primary source material; which is that it has value derived from it being a first hand, unfiltered account of events or experiences from the viewpoint of its creator at the time.  This traveler seems to have been impressed with the most westernized and familiar aspects of the journey (and of course comfort and luxury) and fairly unimpressed with everything else. So, the westernized city of Darien, and the marble structures of the Temple of Heaven were impressive, but the old wooden structures of the Forbidden City and a ceremony with strange musical instruments at Lama Temple was not worthwhile.  This manuscript diary records the thoughts and experiences of a fairly incurious Western tourist with a borderline xenophobic view of the world.  A sentiment that was prevalent at the time (and which still exists today).   One might also consider that the first tourists to visit what is now one of the most popular attractions in the world today (China’s Imperial Palaces), did not have the benefit of docents, museums, modern media, and other ‘amenities’, to inform, or entertain.  So, it is no wonder that for an incurious, and likely uninformed tourist, much of China’s ancient culture would go unappreciated.  For scholars and researchers interested in China, Japan, Korea, China's Imperial Palaces, the Trans Siberian railway, tourism, or sociology this manuscript travel diary offers interesting research opportunities.   Peking excerpts from the 1913 diary:    “We arrived at Pekin at 6:50 p.m. Sep 6.  After giving our life history we were permitted to leave out of the station.  Being followed by dozen horrible looking……wanting to help us with our baggage.  We were howled at by rickshaw men and finally we walked ...... Arrived at Hotel Du Pekin found they would board and room us for 14 a day - for all.  Room was good.  Food fair. We were satisfied. Had a hot wash and went to bed.  Fought mosquitoes all night, and were so tired, did not sleep well.”    “Sept. 7 went to Temple of Heaven and Agricultural Temple.  The temples inside of the compound were beautiful all blue green tiling and some carved in dragon.  Dragon for corner ornaments, and the Temple of Heaven and amphitheatre were built of marble. (small crude drawings at bottom of page margin) We spent nearly one whole morning there - and the Bureau of Agriculture grounds.   “....started out to the Lama Temple.  The service commenced at five and such a noise.  A frog pond is tame. And occasionally a sound from drums, and at intervals, a blast from some instruments sounded like an exhaust on a steamer. And the service commenced with a procession of the most unkept, dirty, filthy… at every turn of the compound you are held up for ….it cost over $1 to go through Temple of Heaven compound- and very little at the Lama Temple for we would not pay- The different Temple buildings were only old nasty tumble down things. And in one place they showed us where they undressed and slept.”   “Sept 9 we went to the Forbidden City many of the buildings were tumbled down, and we found one building that had been burnt- and we got a horse and one other creature- it was ever so far from the city. Chased around and bought a fur coat in the afternoon. At dinner time a crowd from Manila came Col H...Major Lyons- Mr and Mrs. Helen...”  Seoul:  "Sept. 1st Left Seoul after a very strenuous time at depot with hotel porter.  We paid our bill and when we got to the station the porter presented us with another for 13 yen more.  A hold up no more-  we paid for fear we would get arrested as we had to go to …. so as to catch the boat for Tientsen next day-we waited the American consul in morning to have our passports fixed for our trip through Russia.  Fine old gentleman, very dignified, and right to the point.  Mr Skidmore his name- he gave us a letter of introduction to the Russian Consul who fixed transport.  O.K. – Russian Consul home and grounds were very beautiful.  Passed through gate of the walled city- on way to depot.  Arrived ….. at six little after and a Korean soon put our baggage on a truck and we followed him to a J.. Hotel. { Aeaheya As-se-he-ya} where shown to a nice room of eight mats.  We made arrangements for our stay consisting of two meals & bed for 2.37 yen.    Our first meal we had scrimp. potatoes. meatballs. bread. apple. tea." "Breakfast, toast, boiled eggs, our own coffe and cocoa.  Took a walk, bought postcards and went to P.O. to mail.  Returned to our room to settle our accounts, before Tiffan.  Every turn we were served tea while in this J.. inn.  While in this J… inn some fifty prisoners went by with chains about their waists, ….In Seoul- they had brick ovens built each side of house underneath with stove pipe at the back where the fire is made and the floor heated.  The tiger skin at Curio shop was worth 1, 000 yen  Leopard skin from 60 to 300 yen.  They will bring in whole animal (leopard 75) and skin it and bring back for 50.   Saw several leopard while in Seoul.  Pheasant weighs 4 or 5 lbs, beautiful Chinese golden pheasant.  Hunter Paradise as there are bear,-tiger, leopard & pheasants.”  Aboard The Steamer Nile:   “Left Manila August 19 5:30 pm in steamer Nile. Many of our friends were there to bade us bon voyage, Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds, Mrs Harvey, .....Roy forgot Daisy’s wigs hustled back to get them and just got here as the boat pulled out.  The sea has been quite smooth.  First night out piano music and then to bed.  We nearly died it was so hot, felt as though I had a Turkish bath next morning. Spent August 19th quietly. Few played shuffle board-the children and I watched the game.  At night we came up on the deck to sleep. Stayed until 1:30 went to the cabin for the rest of the night.”  “….An Efue kindergarten missionary -Bacon- and a young medico from Manila-Clark- had the only real good time on ship board.  They gambled with the C….   Made things quite tame for a young lady by the name of Beesely.  Dr. Clark would start in to be real chatty with Mrs. B - and then the dear little teacher would find some excuse to get the Doctor away- it was fun for a few of us to watch.   Mrs. Jones from Pasadena a passenger was very nice.  We will reach Nagasaki Tomorrow…”    Darien (Dalian): “After fighting mosquitoes all night boat being at pier, we were glad to get out and walk.  We rode for ½ , stopped at the Electric Park – saw some beautiful plants.  Monkey and baby monkey.  Bear. Owl.  Pheasant.  Stork.  Swan.  duck.  The China… never eat wild birds of any kind.  Amongst the cargo unloaded were bundles of paper weighing 250 lbs. One lone Manchu ….. would carry one off on his shoulder.  Some would make hard work, while one lone one arm ….. would walk away as well as could be.  They unloaded paper, water pipe, iron slabs, from the hole near our cabin.  All the buildings in Dairen were of cement or brick.  Splendid rickshaw.  We inquired about board in J.. Hotel.  2 to 3 yen.  Darien is certainly a fine city.  Splendid streets, and buildings.”    “Aug. 24th Sunday-After breakfast Daisy and I went for a stroll.  We shopped some - Bought J.. parasol, bag needle books dice man J.. towels.  Daisy bought some peaches and we sat in our room and had a feast for 25 sen 1 dozen.  Ate a good lunch and went for a walk about five.  Bought some J.. prints.  Ate a big dinner, and feel just fine, Aug 25. Went for a walk after breakfast.  Went to P.O. had key fixed in trunk.  New key made for suitcase- shoe mended-yen 1.05 for all.  Went to walk four came back to dinner and pulled off our usual stunt (stint?) of undressing. Being comfortable for the evening. “   “The Manchu……are much stronger then the Hong Kong…… broader face—and broader and shorter.  The Hong Kong ......are tall and slight.  The fruit we sure enjoyed, beautiful Bartlett pears.  8 for 20 sen.  Made me pay 4 sen for bucket.  We walked back from Electric Park and blundered by a place looked like school grounds and went in to find it was a market. (small drawing of market) J.. grocery - meat. fruit. fish, it certainly was interesting.  Came back to ship and eat a splendid lunch.   We bought tomatoes. pears. cukes. had boy wash cukes for our lunch.  About four a steamer from Moji came and docked next to our ship.  Daisy and I walked up to see the show.  The J.. man we thought was an escaped soldier was a stowaway.”      Nagasaki:    Arrived Nagasaki 10:30 p.m. the little village looked so pretty from the ship.  August 23 Came ashore about 8 a.m. went to custom’s house.  Then to hotel.  Have two fine cool rooms in cottage up on a hill. 4 yen a day.  Hotel du Japon excellent Tiffin.  Enjoyed the beef steak. And fruits. Peaches. Pears. Apple. White grapes. Had a short nap after Tiffin.  Wrote postal to Manila people.  Took rickshaw ride in the morning.  Slight shower in afternoon. Looks like a thunder shower was on the way.  Just had four o’clock tea.  For 50 sen we bought two big bunches of grapes-8 large peaches, 4 Bartlett pears.  Tasted mighty good. Went for a short walk-bought some Pheasant birds for 2 yen each . had dinner.  Wrote postal cards and to bed early-weary+”   Trans Siberian Railway:    “when we got to …. customs, just opened our trunk ..around a little and called o.k.   They were after playing cards.  For Russia supports her orphan asylum from the duty on cards- 1 Ruble for one deck.  Here there will be a little village, where the roofs will be painted green.  Lemon colored house & red trimming and we will ride for an hour and see nothing but forests.  The train is run by wood.  We passed Lake Baikal at sundown and it was beautiful. Nice big lake, and all around it were log cabins. Got a stone near Lake Baikal.  At night we reach Irkutsk after riding from four till way into the night around the lake.  We reach Irkutsk at 2:30 am, changed cars at 3:30 a.m. and woke the next day at nine. Sept 15th.  We bought bread and milk at different stations and spent a nice day for the scenery was pretty.  Had several little walks along station and finished reading The Money Moon.  The 10 cent and 15 cent Russian money look nearly alike.  One is just a little longer.    “Sept 17th  We passed thru the Ural mountains, and there were many large station we passed.  We got our stove out and boiled some eggs- made salmon soup at noon…..”   “September 17 ……Salmon, Bread..Salmon soup. Four apple. dill pickle. Lemon on our salmon…..  The sleeping car conductor was an old grouch.. we stole match off him 2nd morning on train we made a fire in alcohol stove and made cocoa and coffee- had a fine breakfast cold tongue. Jam.  We were tormented to death by the sleeping car conductor, and the Dining Porter, and some other train man.  They were a most impertinent set of men I ever saw….. Daisy stopped to buy some eggs train started and she jumped on.   I tell you it was close.  Lost three eggs & 15 cents.”    The approximate number of diary pages per place visited is: Japan: 4 pages. Korea: 7 pages, China (including Dalian): 6-1/2 pages. Trans-Siberian Railway to Moscow: 6-1/2 pages. Warsaw: 1/2 page. Berlin/Stuttgart : 1-1/2 pages. Zurich: 1/2 page. London: 1-1/2 pages. Various: 4 pages   Searching OCLC, and the Internet for manuscript or archive material of a similar 1913 tourist's account of a visit to the Imperial Palaces, I have not found anything so far.  The closest thing I have found is an article from the June 1913 The Church Missionary Gleaner journal which contains a secondary source description of a church delegation’s visit to Peking to attend the funeral of the Emperess Dowager Longyu, with details and descriptions of Peking culled from a journal of a Miss Baring-Gould (missionary).    So, it seems that this ordinary western tourist’s travel diary account visiting Imperial Palace locations when they were first opened to the public for a brief period of time in 1913 is rare.    Condition of this original manuscript rebound in hardcover is about good plus except for the first page which has pencil lead smearing (readable with good lighting and perhaps the aid of a magnifying glass).  Otherwise all other pages are in very good condition.  Entries were made mostly in pencil, with some in ink. The handwriting style takes some getting used to, and every so often one encounters a word that is hard to make out (usually solved from context).  The original antique manuscript pages have been rebound in hardcover, with a brown cloth spine and marbled paper covers.  Pages are lightly age toned, with light wear, and have Japan paper repairs/reinforcing at the gutters. (note: sewn with black thread). The bottom page corners have folded tips.   Provenance / Notes. This previously disbound manuscript diary was laid into a Squires photo album (previously sold) of hunting on the Island of Mindoro, Asia, and gun club society scenes in Manila.  The photograph album contained post cards and images that identified it as a Squires Bingham of Manila related photo album.  Roy (R.W. Squires) and Daisy (Squire’s wife) are mentioned on page one of this diary, and throughout.  There were some pictures in the photo album that appear to likely correlate with entries in this diary, such as photos of pheasant hunting in Asia, and aboard a large steamship, etc.  Although the diarist has not yet been identified, the diarist appears to be related to Roy, perhaps a sister in law, and the diarist occasionally refers to Roy Squires as “brother”.  Also the diarist bathes with Daisy in Japan. The year this diary was written, 1913, is confirmed by a number of factors: First, the days of the week and dates correspond to the year 1913, and there is a note at top of page [one] “1913”. Second, the steamship Nile which the group traveled on from Manila to Japan was wrecked off the coast of Japan in 1915. Third, RW Squires son was born in 1902 so he was the right age to be a “boy” (11 years old). Last, The Money Moon: A Romance by Jeffery Farnol was first published in 1911.    According to a China Central Television (CCTV) internet article about the Temple of Heaven:  “ ..in spite of official prohibition.  Unlawful penetration prompted the government to open the temple to the public in 1913.  Admission in the first ten days was free….Five months later, the Ministry of Domestic Affair made a proposal to open imperial palaces including The Temple of Heaven to public.  This popular bill was vetoed by one man, President Yuan Shi-Kai…”    If this 1913 Japan, Korea, China, Peking-Mukden-Trans-Siberian Rail to Moscow, and through Europe to London travel diary fits your collecting interests please consider securing it before it is gone.   Thanks and have a great day!     U.S. Shipping: This item will be carefully packaged and shipped in a highly protective box to protect its condition while in transit, and will be shipped via USPS Priority Mail (3 to 4 days transit time) with tracking, signature confirmation (so it is not left on your doorstep unsecured) and insurance.   Domestic handling time is usually about 4-5 business days.    International Shipping: Please Note: China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong customers, your shipping address must be entered in English language characters. USPS/Fed EX will not accept shipment if the shipping address is not entered in English language characters. Please be sure your ship to address is entered in English language, or your order must be canceled.  Thank you.  For International customers, shipping is via USPS Global Express  Guaranteed, DHL, or Fed-ex equivalent (about 3 to 5 business days transit time excluding any Custom’s delay), with tracking and insurance. If your country is not showing available, please send a message for shipping availability and pricing.  The package will have copies of the Invoice attached for Customs purposes.  The Buyer is responsible for any Customs fees, VAT, taxes, etc, and any time delay at the Customs office.   International packages ship usually ship once per week and handling time is up to 10 business days.    Returns: I accept returns in original condition within 14 days (Buyer pays return shipping).  So, after receiving the item, you can return the item, in its original condition, with a full refund issued after I physically receive the returned item.   The item must be return shipped in protective packaging with insurance and tracking. No partial refunds, and no partial returns.
  • Condition: Please see listing and photos below description for condition details.
  • Original/Facsimile: Original
  • Type: Handwritten Manuscript
  • Subject: Travel
  • Region: Asia

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