2-996-029 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The first Englishman in Japan, 1860. Illustration from "Will Adams; the First Englishman in Japan. A Romantic Biography" by William Dalton. 'The Erasmus, the first Dutch ship which ever reached...[Japan], in 1599, was piloted by William Adams, a Kentish man...His skill in mathematics and the art of shipbuilding...procured him a long but honourable detention in Japan - a favourite of the Emperor; but in the midst of his honours and wealth he yearned in vain to return home to his wife and dear children. He never had that comfort. Detained by the Emperor, he lived many years on the island, and there died, at Firando, in 1619 or 1620. He deserves a high place in the list of the heroes of naval discovery and enterprise, and equally so among the diplomatists of commerce and civilisation. In Mr. Dalton's statement of the facts on which he founds his "romantic biography" we are told that, as a friend and confidant of the Emperor, Adams negotiated a treaty for this country, married a native lady, had children, and died after a twenty years' sojourn in Japan...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1860.