BOWRING (Sir John, 1792-1872, M.P., F.R.S., Linguist, Governor and Ambassador, opened up trade with King Mongkut of Siam, favourite pupil of Jeremy Bentham)

Autograph Letter Signed to the Revd. Burford Waring Gibsone, (1828-1896, Headmaster of Grosvenor College, Bath, and of St. Peter's College, Eaton Square), saying he has been seriously ill at home, and is now on his way to N. Italy, "I have some public business in hand both at Turin and Paris and must therefore ... postpone any engagement ... to ... lecture", Cività Vecchia, 29th April slight traces of laying down on blank verso

Sir John's bent for languages was nurtured in a mercantile house in Exeter. At 19 he was in the Peninsula and then studied the public accounts of many European countries. The Government sent him on many commercial diplomatic missions in the Middle East, and later the Far East, where he was Plenipotentiary to China (1854) and Governor of Hong Kong, and established diplomatic and commercial relations with Siam (1855). He was also responsible for introducing the florin, our first decimal coin.
At the time of this letter Bowring was investigating commercial relations with the new Kingdom of Italy. Gibsone had been Professor of Mathematics at Queen's College, Birmingham, 1855-1857.

Item Date:  1861

Stock No:  14738      £125

             Add to Wish List     Order/Enquire