Photograph Album of a Tour of an American Diplomat and Journalist in the Far East, 1917

n.p.: n.p., 1917. This photo album records the tour of American diplomat, journalist and editor George Martin and his wife throughout the Far East in early 1917. Marvin (1873-1955), an alumnus of Groton School and Harvard, was appointed early in the new century as US Deputy Consul-General and Marshal, stationed at Mukden, China, the first US consulate to be established in Manchuria. He held this position, under Willard Straight, until 1908. From 1909-10 Marvin acted as a public relations officer for the Chinese Imperial government, also a period in which he worked with Straight and others surreptitiously to oppose Japanese influence in Manchuria (see ref.). Marvin later edited Asia Magazine (a prominent liberal academic journal focussed primarily on China and owned by the Straight family), during which he leveraged his long friendship with Franklin Delano Roosevelt - he had taught the Roosevelt children at Groton - to write for the journal. Marvin passed away in Washington DC in 1955; the album was acquired from his estate. The album documents the Marvin family's journey, originating in Hawaii and travelling to Yokohama on the steamer SS Siberia in January 1917. From Japan the Marvins travelled to Pusan, Korea; on by train to Seoul, thence to Mukden (now Shenyang, China), onward to Peking, then to Nanking via the Yangtze River, then to Shanghai, thence by boat to Nagasaki, Japan. Touring through Miyajima, Kyoto, Nara, Tokyo and Nikko, the Marvins then journeyed westward again to Manila (via Shanghai), thence by road to Baguio, Philippines. The photo record ends with a single last image taken in Canton, China, toward the end of May, 1917 - a total of 134 images. While a few of the images are of a personal nature (Marvin and his wife with friends in Hawaii, or onboard the SS Siberia), the bulk of the images are well composed photos of the many cultural events, street scenes, temples and fortifications that the Marvins visited. These include, for example, temples and a geisha festival in Kyoto, the cherry blossom celebrations in Tokyo, street scenes in Seoul, monuments such as the Great Wall, Ming tombs, city gates in Peking and the Imperial Examination Hall in Nanjing. All photos bear penciled dates and locations on the back, a summary list of which is available with the album. The photos are mounted in a beautiful contemporary Japanese album purchased in Yokohama. Photos are corner mounted (and thus individually removable) on black sheets bound within stiff woven cloth-covered boards of peach and floral design. The album is in very good condition with only slight wear to the head and tail of the spine. A handful of images have creased or lost corners; the remaining photos are also in excellent condition. Album dimensions 27 x 37 cm., 120 b&w photos, 14 hand colour-tinted; most photos 14 x 8.3 cm. Ref.: 'West Across the Pacific: The American Involvement in East Asia from 1898 to the Vietnam War'; Hilary Conroy, Francis Conroy, Sophie Quinn-Judge; Amherst 2008.. Stiff cloth wrappers. Very Good. 27 x 37 cm..