Voyage to China: To China and back

These four volumes contain three handwritten variations of the travel narrative of nineteenth-century American sailor George Arthur Gray recorded on his round trip voyage from Boston to China between March 1863 and May 1866. The original diary entries were expanded into a full narrative, which Gray apparently hoped to publish. The narrative focuses on Chinese social customs, the Chinese coast, and the details of a sailor's life.

The four volumes include a daily diary and two later narrative versions which were based on the diary. Volume four appears to be a fair copy (of the entire narrative in volumes 2 and 3) which was prepared for an intended publisher, “Boston, Dee & Shepard. Publisher’s.” Volume four also bears the information “Concord, Aug. 1, 1869.”

Volume one appears to be the original daily diary that Gray maintained on his voyage. An accomplished ink sketch with flourished title lettering faces the title page and one additional drawing is found within the text. This volume is filled with eighty-seven pages of autograph diary entries. These were short entries from March 29, 1863, through the end of the year, most only a few sentences long. Beginning in 1864, the entries were longer. This volume continued until May 8, 1866 (on page seventy-one). Several pages of "notes" refer to and expand upon earlier entries in the volume.

Volume two is titled "Voyage to China. To China, and back: Being an account of what occurred on board the barque Dorchester on the passage out; also giving an account of some of the curious manners and customs, religion &c of the Chinese. A description of the Empire and some of the cities and seaport towns. Volume First." It consists of 107 pages, a table of contents outlining the contents of ten chapters in this first volume. There is a full-page inked drawing in the front of the manuscript and seven additional drawings illustrating text throughout the volume. The drawings primarily depict ships or buildings on the coast.

Volume three is a continuation of the narrative of the previous volume; in addition to the full title, it is identified as "Volume Second." The volume also has a detailed ink drawing on the inside cover. This volume includes chronological diary entries, two hand-drawn maps, one of Swatow, and several drawings including an opium pipe. There is a list of Chinese characters and figures symbolizing numbers from one to 100 as well as a list of words with their definitions. The diary entries filled about 100 pages followed by four pages of contents and an additional short narrative.

Volume four has a different entry on the title page, "Voyage to China. To China and Back. Being a series of incidents that befell the writer on a three years cruise to China Also giving an account of some of the curious manner’s and customs of these ancient and superstitious people – a description of the Empire, and some of the most important cities and seaport towns. Boston, Dee & Shepard, Publisher’s." His introduction was dated August 1, 1869. This volume has 228 filled pages, 219 of which include much of the text from volumes two and three, followed by the table of contents. There are no autograph maps and only one sketch (the opium pipe). There are also three undated news clippings about China affixed to the blank pages in the back of the volume and two folded, published maps of Hong Kong (1866) and Amoy Harbour (1865).

All four volumes have leather spines and paper covers. They vary in height from twenty to twenty-two centimeters in height. The cover of volume two is loose. The spines of volumes one, two and three are damaged, and there are several loose pages in each. Otherwise all volumes are in good condition with autograph notes in ink. Several clippings about China were pasted into the back of volume four and a "card of a Chinese mandarin" is laid in volume two.