How History Unfolds on Paper: Important Americana from the Eric C. Caren Collection, Part X

Leather wallet, tooled with border design and naval imagery, including an eagle and anchor motif, ca. 1840s. 3 1/2 x 6 3/4 x 1/2 in. (89 x 172 x 12 mm). Pencil notation under primary flap, "Commodore James Biddle U.S.N." Early 20th century sticker mounted below above, with manuscript, "wallet used by James Biddle in Japan." Wear commensurate with age and use; early crude stitched repair to leather fastener.

Commodore James Biddle (1783-1848), of the Philadelphia Biddle family, joined the U.S. Navy in 1800. In 1845, Biddle was named head of a naval squadron headed to the far east, with the objective of delivering a letter from Secretary of State John C. Calhoun to the American ambassador in China, Caleb Cushing. The letter authorized him to attempt negotiations with the government of Japan with the hopes of establishing a trade agreement. However, when the fleet arrived in Macau, they found Cushing had already left for America, and his successor Alexander Everett was too ill to make the journey. Biddle decided to attempt the negotiations himself, and on July 20, 1846 he anchored his ships off Uraga. His reception with the Japanese delegation was disastrous, and at one point, while aboard the ship of the Shogunate, Biddle was knocked to the ground by a samurai guard after misunderstanding instructions. Apologies were exchanged, but the Americans were told that Japan forbade all commerce with foreign nations other than the Dutch, and the squadron departed shortly thereafter. Japan remained closed to American trade until Commodore Matthew Perry's expedition seven years later.