John Thomson, born in Edinburgh, was the first Western photographer to travel widely through the length and breadth of China. This unit is a full reproduction of his celebrated Illustrations of China and Its People: A Series of Two Hundred Photographs, with Letterpress Descriptive of the Places and People Represented, published in four volumes from 1873 to 1874. Images courtesy of Yale University Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology © 2010 Visualizing Cultures |  |
| Illustrations of China & Its People. Vols. 1–4 by John Thomson VOL. 1 Album | Image Gallery VOL. 2 Album | Image Gallery VOL. 3 Album | Image Gallery VOL. 4 Album | Image Gallery |
