author

J. W. (J. Willett) Spalding

b. 1827

A firsthand 1850s travel writer, he recorded Commodore Perry’s famous expedition to Japan from aboard the U.S. steam-frigate Mississippi. His book blends eyewitness detail on Japan with lively sketches of ports and sea routes across Asia, Africa, and the Atlantic world.

1 Audiobook

The Japan expedition. Japan and around the world An account of three visits to the Japanese empire, with sketches of Madeira, St. Helena, cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Ceylon, Singapore, China, and Loo-Choo

The Japan expedition. Japan and around the world An account of three visits to the Japanese empire, with sketches of Madeira, St. Helena, cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Ceylon, Singapore, China, and Loo-Choo

by J. W. (J. Willett) Spalding

About the author

Born in 1827, J. Willett Spalding is known for The Japan Expedition: Japan and Around the World, published in New York in 1855. Library and digitized editions identify him as J. W. Spalding and present the book as an account of three visits to Japan during the Perry expedition.

The book describes him as being of the U.S. steam-frigate Mississippi, the flagship of the expedition, and other records describe him as serving aboard that vessel during Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s mission. That gave him a close view of one of the most important American voyages to Japan in the mid-19th century.

For modern readers, Spalding’s appeal is his on-the-spot perspective. Alongside scenes from Japan, he wrote about places such as Madeira, St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Ceylon, Singapore, China, and Loo-Choo, making his work part travel narrative and part historical eyewitness account.