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China North & South. A Series of Vandyck Photogravures illustrating the picturesque aspect of Chinese life and surroundings -
Donald Mennie
Circa 1920 - A. S. Watson &, 16 Nanking Road - First Edition
A clean and superior example of this work by the Scottish born Donald Mennie, published by A. S. Watson in Shanghai.
The first edition, in the publisher’s original card wrappers, without chips or foxing, scarce as such.
Presenting thirty large photogravure plates tipped onto a dark green background each with Mennie’s personal descriptive text.
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Price HK$ 18,000
Circa 1920 - A. S. Watson &, 16 Nanking Road - First Edition
A clean and superior example of this work by the Scottish born Donald Mennie, published by A. S. Watson in Shanghai.The first edition, in the publisher’s original card wrappers, without chips or foxing, scarce as such.
Presenting thirty large photogravure plates tipped onto a dark green background each with Mennie’s personal descriptive text.
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Price HK$ 18,000
Soochow: The Garden City -
F. R. Nance
1936 - Kelly &, Shanghai - First Edition
A fine and exemplary example of this beautifully illustrated guide to the ‘Garden City’.
With twenty four black and white photographic plates of photographs by H. C. Wong and four folding maps, as well as a Map of the Waterways Around Soochow highlighted in green and used as endpapers.
Florence Rush Nance (1875-1940) was an American teacher of mathematics and chemistry at the McTyeire School for Young Ladies in Shanghai (now the Shanghai No. 3 Girls' High School). She was the first woman to receive a degree in science from Vanderbilt. Nance also taught at Soochow University where her husband was President.
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Price HK$ 6,000
1936 - Kelly &, Shanghai - First Edition
A fine and exemplary example of this beautifully illustrated guide to the ‘Garden City’. With twenty four black and white photographic plates of photographs by H. C. Wong and four folding maps, as well as a Map of the Waterways Around Soochow highlighted in green and used as endpapers.
Florence Rush Nance (1875-1940) was an American teacher of mathematics and chemistry at the McTyeire School for Young Ladies in Shanghai (now the Shanghai No. 3 Girls' High School). She was the first woman to receive a degree in science from Vanderbilt. Nance also taught at Soochow University where her husband was President.
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Price HK$ 6,000
An Embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham Emperour of China -
Johan Nieuhoff, John Ogilby
1669 - Printed by John Macock for the Author, London - First Edition in English
One of the great 17th century works on China, translated and published by John Ogilby, noteworthy not only for the text, bringing notice of the mysteries of the East to English readers, but for the magnificent engraved illustrations and plates.
In contemporary full calf and profusely illustrated throughout with portrait frontispiece, added pictorial title-page (signed in the plate by Wenceslaus Hollar), double page map of China, 17 copper-engraved plates (on 16 pages); double-page plan of Canton; 120 copper-engravings in the text; and numerous decorative motifs.
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Price HK$ 125,000
1669 - Printed by John Macock for the Author, London - First Edition in English
One of the great 17th century works on China, translated and published by John Ogilby, noteworthy not only for the text, bringing notice of the mysteries of the East to English readers, but for the magnificent engraved illustrations and plates.In contemporary full calf and profusely illustrated throughout with portrait frontispiece, added pictorial title-page (signed in the plate by Wenceslaus Hollar), double page map of China, 17 copper-engraved plates (on 16 pages); double-page plan of Canton; 120 copper-engravings in the text; and numerous decorative motifs.
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Price HK$ 125,000
Maskee - A Shanghai Sketchbook by Schiff - Signed -
Friedrich Schiff
Circa 1938Shanghai - First Edition. Number A358 of an unspecified Limited Edition
A fine thus scarce example in the original green silk.
Fabulously Shanghai Art-Deco 15 foot long accordion folio in original silk covers, folding out to show 21 illustrated panels each hand-coloured by Schiff. Each panel depicting a view of 1930’s expatriate life in Shanghai through the unique eyes of Schiff. More a folio of art-deco artwork than a book, although many of the panels include amusing comments and rhymes for example:
Miss Shanghai
Me No Worry – Me No Care!
Me Go Marry Millionaire!
If He Die – Me No Cry!
Me Go Marry Other Guy!!
Signed to the first panel by Friedrich Schiff (1908-68), an Austrian Jewish artist who moved to Shanghai in 1930 after an invite to visit from a cousin and lived there for 17 years. He had worked as a newspaper cartoonist in Vienna and continued this line of work in Shanghai, soon becoming famous for his amusing caricatures of the city's inhabitants. Prolific, Schiff’s cartoons appeared in books, newspapers, magazines and advertisements throughout China and the Far East, and collaborations with Ellen Thorbecke (Peking Studies; People in China; Hong Kong; and Shanghai).
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Price HK$ 22,000
Circa 1938Shanghai - First Edition. Number A358 of an unspecified Limited Edition
A fine thus scarce example in the original green silk.Fabulously Shanghai Art-Deco 15 foot long accordion folio in original silk covers, folding out to show 21 illustrated panels each hand-coloured by Schiff. Each panel depicting a view of 1930’s expatriate life in Shanghai through the unique eyes of Schiff. More a folio of art-deco artwork than a book, although many of the panels include amusing comments and rhymes for example:
Miss Shanghai
Me No Worry – Me No Care!
Me Go Marry Millionaire!
If He Die – Me No Cry!
Me Go Marry Other Guy!!
Signed to the first panel by Friedrich Schiff (1908-68), an Austrian Jewish artist who moved to Shanghai in 1930 after an invite to visit from a cousin and lived there for 17 years. He had worked as a newspaper cartoonist in Vienna and continued this line of work in Shanghai, soon becoming famous for his amusing caricatures of the city's inhabitants. Prolific, Schiff’s cartoons appeared in books, newspapers, magazines and advertisements throughout China and the Far East, and collaborations with Ellen Thorbecke (Peking Studies; People in China; Hong Kong; and Shanghai).
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Price HK$ 22,000
Sketches of Chinese Life & Character -
William R. Snow
1860 - Dickinson Bros., 114
A rare large folio of 17 hand-coloured lithographic plates by M. & N. Hanhart from sketches by William R. Snow. Some plates heightened with gum-arabic. Originally sold in three parts, probably loose for ease of framing, and housed in wrappers. It may be assumed that the plate of ‘The Game of Shuttlecock’ was used for that purpose as it is not included here. The three sets of original wrappers have been bound in, and the plate titles are as follows:
Part I.
Going to a Picnic, Mode of Travelling A Long Journey in China.
Rival Caravans, The Desert of To Day.
A Clean Shave.
A Slap on the Back, More Pleasant Than it Looks.
How This Little Pig Went to Market.
Ye Civil Force.
Part II.
Costermongers - Victoria Street, Hong Kong (named as ‘Canton’ in the Plate List).
Chinese funeral - Mode of Carrying the Coffin.
Musicians and Flag Bearers in Advance of a Funeral.
Sketch from the Wall on the Morning after the Grand Attack.
Dinner Hour of a Chinese Family on Board a Chop on the Canton River.
Part III.
On the Wall, Canton.
A Group of Coolies at a Portable Soup Kitchen.
Military Train Coolies Going Home.
Sketch of a Mandarin, Grand Stand Canton.
Astonishment of Ye Natives at Red Hair.
A Group of Coolies on the Road at Dinner.
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Price HK$ 140,000
1860 - Dickinson Bros., 114
A rare large folio of 17 hand-coloured lithographic plates by M. & N. Hanhart from sketches by William R. Snow. Some plates heightened with gum-arabic. Originally sold in three parts, probably loose for ease of framing, and housed in wrappers. It may be assumed that the plate of ‘The Game of Shuttlecock’ was used for that purpose as it is not included here. The three sets of original wrappers have been bound in, and the plate titles are as follows:Part I.
Going to a Picnic, Mode of Travelling A Long Journey in China.
Rival Caravans, The Desert of To Day.
A Clean Shave.
A Slap on the Back, More Pleasant Than it Looks.
How This Little Pig Went to Market.
Ye Civil Force.
Part II.
Costermongers - Victoria Street, Hong Kong (named as ‘Canton’ in the Plate List).
Chinese funeral - Mode of Carrying the Coffin.
Musicians and Flag Bearers in Advance of a Funeral.
Sketch from the Wall on the Morning after the Grand Attack.
Dinner Hour of a Chinese Family on Board a Chop on the Canton River.
Part III.
On the Wall, Canton.
A Group of Coolies at a Portable Soup Kitchen.
Military Train Coolies Going Home.
Sketch of a Mandarin, Grand Stand Canton.
Astonishment of Ye Natives at Red Hair.
A Group of Coolies on the Road at Dinner.
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Price HK$ 140,000
An Authentic Account of an embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China -
Sir George Staunton, Earl of Macartney, Sir Erasmus Gower
1797 - Printed by W. Bulmer and Co. for G, London - First Edition
A majestic set of this cornerstone of China related travel literature in contemporary bindings, together with the magnificent Elephant Folio Atlas showing forty-four engraved maps and plates (mainly after Alexander, of which one is folding and six are double-page.
‘An account of the first British embassy to China, under Lord Macartney. Great Britain was anxious to establish formal diplomatic relations with China and thus open the way for unimpeded trade relations, but centuries of Chinese reserve and self-sufficiency presented a formidable obstacle to the embassy, and the Chinese emperor effectually resisted Lord Macartney’s arguments and gifts. The visit of the British embassy nonetheless resulted in this remarkable account of Chinese manners and customs at the close of the eighteenth century’ - The Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages.
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Price HK$ 120,000
1797 - Printed by W. Bulmer and Co. for G, London - First Edition
A majestic set of this cornerstone of China related travel literature in contemporary bindings, together with the magnificent Elephant Folio Atlas showing forty-four engraved maps and plates (mainly after Alexander, of which one is folding and six are double-page.‘An account of the first British embassy to China, under Lord Macartney. Great Britain was anxious to establish formal diplomatic relations with China and thus open the way for unimpeded trade relations, but centuries of Chinese reserve and self-sufficiency presented a formidable obstacle to the embassy, and the Chinese emperor effectually resisted Lord Macartney’s arguments and gifts. The visit of the British embassy nonetheless resulted in this remarkable account of Chinese manners and customs at the close of the eighteenth century’ - The Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages.
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Price HK$ 120,000
An Authentic Account of an embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China -
Sir George Staunton, Earl of Macartney, Sir Erasmus Gower
1797 - Printed by W. Bulmer and Co. for G, London - First Edition - Large Paper Edition
A superb untrimmed and scarce large paper edition of this cornerstone of China related travel literature in the original boards, (sheet size 33.3x26.5cm) together with the matching magnificent Elephant Folio Atlas showing forty-four engraved maps and plates (mainly after Alexander), of which seven are folding. The atlas folio with publisher’s original paper label stating ‘Maps and Plates to Illustrate the Fine Large Paper Edition of Lord Macartney’s Embassy to China’.
‘An account of the first British embassy to China, under Lord Macartney. Great Britain was anxious to establish formal diplomatic relations with China and thus open the way for unimpeded trade relations, but centuries of Chinese reserve and self-sufficiency presented a formidable obstacle to the embassy, and the Chinese emperor effectually resisted Lord Macartney’s arguments and gifts. The visit of the British embassy nonetheless resulted in this remarkable account of Chinese manners and customs at the close of the eighteenth century’ - The Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages.
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Price HK$ 140,000
1797 - Printed by W. Bulmer and Co. for G, London - First Edition - Large Paper Edition
A superb untrimmed and scarce large paper edition of this cornerstone of China related travel literature in the original boards, (sheet size 33.3x26.5cm) together with the matching magnificent Elephant Folio Atlas showing forty-four engraved maps and plates (mainly after Alexander), of which seven are folding. The atlas folio with publisher’s original paper label stating ‘Maps and Plates to Illustrate the Fine Large Paper Edition of Lord Macartney’s Embassy to China’.‘An account of the first British embassy to China, under Lord Macartney. Great Britain was anxious to establish formal diplomatic relations with China and thus open the way for unimpeded trade relations, but centuries of Chinese reserve and self-sufficiency presented a formidable obstacle to the embassy, and the Chinese emperor effectually resisted Lord Macartney’s arguments and gifts. The visit of the British embassy nonetheless resulted in this remarkable account of Chinese manners and customs at the close of the eighteenth century’ - The Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages.
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Price HK$ 140,000
The Red Pavilion - Inscribed -
Robert H. Van Gulik
1961 - Art Printing Works, Kuala Lumpur - First Edition
A bright sharp copy of this rare first edition, with hand-written dedication by Van Gulik, dated February 1962.
One of three Judge Dee titles first published in Kuala Lumpur, whilst Van Gulik was stationed there as Dutch Ambassador to the federation of Malaya. The tenth book in the Judge Dee series, and chronologically fourteenth tale, being set in China 670 AD.
With six illustrations from woodblock prints, and endpapers illustrated with a Sketch Map of Paradise Island, in Chinese style by Van Gulik.
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Price HK$ 15,000
1961 - Art Printing Works, Kuala Lumpur - First Edition
A bright sharp copy of this rare first edition, with hand-written dedication by Van Gulik, dated February 1962.One of three Judge Dee titles first published in Kuala Lumpur, whilst Van Gulik was stationed there as Dutch Ambassador to the federation of Malaya. The tenth book in the Judge Dee series, and chronologically fourteenth tale, being set in China 670 AD.
With six illustrations from woodblock prints, and endpapers illustrated with a Sketch Map of Paradise Island, in Chinese style by Van Gulik.
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Price HK$ 15,000