These land approach views appeared in the account of George Macartney's travels to China, published by George Nicol. Macartney was Britain's first envoy to China, and was tasked with convincing Emperor Qianlong to ease restrictions on trade between Great Britain and China by allowing the British to have a permanent embassy in the country. Sir George Staunton prepared the official report, An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China, which included charts and views based on manuscript sketches and drawings by Sir John Barrow, the personal secretary of Macartney, as well as the artists William Alexander and Thomas Hickey. The top two views depicts coastal profile views of local islands named after important people in the Embassy, including Macartney, Staunton, and Gower. At bottom is a view of the city of Ten-Tchoo-Foo taken from aboard the Hindostan, one of the ships on the mission. Engraved by Ellis.

References: Shirley (BL Atlases) G.BARR-1a #7.

Condition: B+

A nice impression on paper with a "J. Whatman 1794" watermark. There are a few light stains and a binding tram at bottom left, with loss of publisher's imprint. A tear in the bottom title and entering less than 1/2" into image was previously repaired with non-archival tape, which has since been removed and replaced with archival tape.