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Edward Ives, A voyage from England to India, in the year MDCCLIV. And an historical narrative of the operations of the squadron and army in India, under the command of Vice-Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive in the years 1755, 1756, 1757; including a correspondence between the admiral and the nabob Serajah Dowlah ... Also, a journey from Persia to England, by an unusual route. With an appendix, containing an account of the diseases prevalent in Admiral Watson's squadron: description of most of the trees, shrubs, and plants of India ... also a copy of a letter written by a late ingenious physician, on the disorder’s incidental to Europeans at Gombroon in the Gulph of Persia, Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly, 1773

xii, 506 pages including 2 folding engraved maps and 13 engraved plates; contemporary calf retaining original gilt stamped spine label, marbled edges and inside marble end papers
27.7 x 22.5 x 4.5 cm

Edward Ives served as a surgeon aboard the flagship Kent, which was under the command of Charles Watson (1714-1757). In 1754, the British physician Edward Ives embarked on an Admiral's ship to travel to East India. In 1758, he returned to England after working at a local hospital for a period. In addition to a section on his medical and surgical observations of prevailing diseases, hospitals, and patients, the travelogue also chronicles Ives' remarks on the conventions and manners of the places he visited. Of greater significance, the travelogue also includes information on Indian medicinal plants and trees. Ives' return to England in 1759, which encompassed excursions to Baghdad, Cyprus, Venice, Germany, and the Netherlands, is also described in the book, in addition to India.

He chose the same return route through the Middle East as Carsten Niebuhr, who did so a few years later: from Basra to Latakia via Hille, Baghdad, Mosul, Diarbekr, Biredjik, and Haleb. He met with Mubarak bin Sabah, the Sheikh of "Grane" (Kuwait): "In connection with Kuwait, Ives's text is especially important for the insight it gives into the economy of caravan traffic and Kuwait's place in it. Many sources present Kuwait as a port, oriented towards the sea. Ives shows another side of Kuwait. We see that the Shaikhs of Kuwait are quite mobile individuals, travelling to Syria with their camels. The Shaikh is landbound, occupied with caravans [...] The seaward side of Kuwait's economy was [...] controlled by the Al-Khalifa family" (Slot, 135). Furthermore, Ives was the first author to offer a comprehensive account of the ruins of Ktesiphon, which had been previously visited by Pietro della Valle (Reference: Henze). "Ives' presence at many of the transactions which he describes and his personal intimacy with Watson give his historical narrative an unusual importance, and his account of the manners and customs of the countries he visited are those of an enlightened and acute observer [...] The appendix contains an 'Account of the Diseases prevalent in Adml. Watson's squadron, a description of most of the Trees, Shrubs, and Plants of India, with their medicinal virtues'" (Cox).

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