A Private Journal of John Glendy Sproston, U. S. N.Edited by Shio Sakanishi
Monographs (1968) pp. 1–128
Those who were acquainted with the documentary sources of Commodore Perry’s Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan were slightly puzzled when “an original manuscript by an officer of Perry squadron,” which presumably was not known to the Commodore, appeared on the market in 1926. it will be recalled that at the beginning of the expedition, Commodore Perry gave strict orders to those under his command not to communicate with any one in regard to the movements of the Squadron or its discipline and regulations. These topics were to be avoided in private letters, and to make certain that the command was enforced, the letters were censored. Journals and notes kept by members of the expedition were to be looked upon as belonging to the government. Therefore, at the end of the expedition in August, 1854, in Hongkong, they were collected and sent to the Navy Department on the U.S.S. Mississippi. Mr. Francis L. Hawks, who edited the Narrative, makes acknowledgement to them in the ‘Prefatory Note,’ but adds that the Commodore:s journals and correspondence form much the larger part. After the task was complete, all the private papers were returned to their respective owners.
A Private Journal of John Glendy Sproston, a manuscript folio of 105 pages in the original half calf, was noted for the first time in the Catalogue of the Anderson Galleries, New York, in 1926, and was purchased by the Library of Congress. The consigner of the manuscript was not disclosed, and since then notwithstanding inquiries at the Galleries and elsewhere, it has not yet been possible to trace its history.
1940; revised 1968. xvii + 128 pages.
Hardback ¥2,000/$20.00/€20.00.