Search Results: CHINA from Antipodean Books, Maps & Prints

India, 1922. Ephemera. Fine. A two page typewritten letter from Rev. and Mrs. Stanley Jones, missionaries in India, to Mrs. Tripner. The letter describes how a flood had ruined grain, medicine, books, furniture, buildings. School continues in any available dry spot, and the benefit that street children gain from reading and writing, general education, cleanliness etc. Eli Stanley Jones (1884-1973) was an American Methodist Christian missionary, theologian, and author. He is remembered chiefly for his inter religious lectures to the educated classes in India, thousands of which were held across the Indian subcontinent during the first decades of the 20th century. He is sometimes considered the "Billy Graham of India." His seminal work, The Christ of the Indian Road, sold more than a million copies worldwide after its publication in 1925. (Wikipedia). The letter is written by his wife and fellow missionary, Mabel Lossing Jones. Mrs. Jones explains that her husband is on an extended trip to China… Read More

1930. Very good condition. A pair of real photo snapshots with contemporary annotation on the verso, one "Pekin (sic) China" in pencil, the second "Chinese troop, Tiensen" (sic). The Peking view is a bird's eye view, showing a main thoroughfare with rickshaw and pedestrian traffic, and many store fronts, including one with a series of minarets at the top of the building. The second snap shot showing two rows of very young Chinese soldiers standing at attention in front of a military building with stucco facade, with tents visible in the distance. 5 1/2 x 3 1/4"

Canton: Youqua Studio, 1870. Silk covered boards. Very good overall. 24 large and intricate paintings of Chinese nobility dressed in their finery. This album bears the red stamp with border for "Youqua Painter, Old Street, No. 34" affixed to the inside cover. Leaves mounted with pale turquoise silk ribbon to paper leaves. The album size 33.2 x 24.8cm (13 x 9 3/4") and stands as a quarto volume. Bound in dark blue silk with medallions in red, gold and green trellis design. The binding is cracked on the spine but holding, rubbed edges and corners with the remants of silk ties. While some plates have some damage around the edge, all the coats and gowns are in fine condition and brilliant full color. A red stamp with border for "Youqua Painter, Old Street, No. 34" affixed to the inside cover. Western binding opening from the right.

Canton: SunQua Studio, 1830. Silk covered boards. The 12 bird images are full page, finely done with grass, rocks and flowers with shrubs or trees. Unusually, the half page images are mounted on the verso of the sheets of bird images. The half page images include collections of shells (4); women playing musical instruments (8); men sitting, a scribe, man smoking, butcher, melon, fish and vegetable sellers, and a few of the punishment images. Oblong 4to, 8 1/4 x 13 1/4". Leaves mounted with to paper leaves with an unusual paper border with a purple circle pattern on pale background paper. Chinese style binding, opening from the back of the album. Bound in a green, gold, blue and red silk woven in a daisy pattern, which sometimes appears with a Sunqua stamp. Without background painting. The first image with some cracking but not affecting the characters, some slight browning. Most in very good condition.

1889. A letter written by Charles H. Smith, 156 Yah Yah St., Canton, to William S. Gaylord, 119 Williams St., Norwich, CT, dated May 16, 1889. He stayed with George Thompson, a tea merchant. "Of all the cities I have seen, Canton is the most interesting, fascinating and startling." The 4pp letter describes the city wall, the residence of the Tartar General and the consulates of the great European powers; the "perfect maze of narrow streets...from five to eight feet wide", the streets paved with large slabs of marble, the ancient gates, and much on the garrison of 2100 constables, the thirty-six wards they guard and methods of intimidation for burglars. He also describes a visit to a "Cat and Dog Restaurant" and extolling "Birds nest soup." Bifold, 4 3/8 x 6 3/4". A couple small smudges otherwise very good condition.

Shanghai, 1933. Very good condition. An amusing letter written by Adeline in Shanghai to her sister Dorothea back home in the United States, describing Chinese celebrations and rituals and commenting on the Depression and its "direst calamities". Adeline vividly describes the Chinese "Mid Autumn Festival", including paying homage to the moon, stories from the Tang Dynasty (how the Emperor Tang Min-huang traveled to the moon), the exchange of moon shaped cakes, and moon viewing rituals. She also describes in great detail the important seventh week Buddhist memorial services for a deceased Chinese friend. She describes the elaborate Temple, altar, decorations of dwarf pine and evergreens, tea ceremony, attendant monks and priests, and the burning of large gifts to the deceased made of paper and bamboo. Adeline concludes with a lament about the "business situation", and a wish that "Roosevelt will be able to swing things into line soon, but think that he has bitten off almost more than he can chew".… Read More

China, 1921. Very good condition. From "Bub" to brother Philip. Bub is apparently an American assistant or undersecretary to a United States Minister/diplomat based in Peking. He mentions the unusually hot summer, and the efforts to make headway on the Negotiations ("the political situation here goes from bad to worse"), however, there are very few ministers in town, the rest are vacationing. He is tasked to 'write a report on the Sino Japanese Shantung Negotiations...' "and that is as complex as possible and they seem to be getting nowhere..." He mentions meetings with Edwin Denby, Secretary of the Navy as the Minister's special representative, entertaining Major General Wright, Mr. Warren, and Du Wellington Koo (the Chinese Minister to Washington, then Foreign Minister and Finance Minister). "Du Wellington Koo has been entertained right and left and I have gone to most of the dinners for him - she is one of the prettiest Chinese I have seen." (referring to his wife Hui-lan Oei) The Sino-Japan… Read More

1822. One page hand written letter signed 'J. Bowring', to an unknown recipient, requesting a past issue of the Literary Gazette which contained a catalogue of languages by the German linguist, Adelung. Bowring was an accomplished linguist & writer, who translated French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Russian, Serbian, Polish, Bohemian, Magyar, Arabic & in later life Chinese. In 1854, he was named Governor, Commander in Chief and Vice Admiral of Hong Kong. Bowring wrote accounts of his missions, works on poetry, and political & economic treatises. 5 x 7 3/4 in., cream paper, with no letterhead. Written and signed in black ink, from 5 Jeffreys Sq., St. Mary (Axe?), dated 8/8 - 22 (1822). A bit marked, old folds o/w good.

New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1911. Hardcover. Very good condition. The author's China journey, crossing on foot from the Yangtze Gorges to British Burma. Dingle was one of the first Caucasians to remain in China for an extended period. He traveled to Tibet in 1910 and spent the next 21 years in the East, in China, India, Tibet and Burma. He was in China in 1911 during the revolution. He also published 'The New Atlas and Commercial Gazetteer of China', considered to be one of the best resources on China of its day. Large 8vo, xvi, 446 pp., many plates and 1 folding map at rear. Original red buckram, gold title on spine, black title on front cover. Light spotting on spine and light sporadic fox spotting in text. OCLC: 2164143.

Tientsin, China: China National Sundries Corporation, 1935. Very good condition. offset Colour printed advertisment flyer for a Chinese playing card maker, showing the four games, each card pack illustrated in color, and with text in English and Chinese. 7 1/2 x 10". A lovely period graphic with the company name in gold at the base. No printing on verso.

San Francisco, 1920. Vibrantly colored and beautifully detailed chromolithographic advertising poster depicting the goddess in pale blue robes, the moon behind her head like a halo, with an infant on her lap, a woman standing behind her with a flask, and a child at her feet stepping from a lotus blossom. This is Guan Yin depicted in her role as fertility goddess. With title in Chinese above and on either side of the illustration, and text in English below. English text reads "Importers & Exporters, China Art Goods, All Kinds of Wares. China Emporium, San Francisco California. Address 733-735 Grant Avenue, Phone China 2285". All text printed in red. China Emporium was a San Francisco California importer & exporter, dealing in wholesale and retail of Chinese art goods, porcelain, silk embroidery, silver and brass. Large poster measures 20 3/4 x 30 1/2". Small chip at bottom edge, slightly affecting the word "California", otherwise very good condition.

London: Harrison and Sons, 1902. Very good condition. Treaty Series No. 3, S1902. Parliamentary documents possibly signed due to the desire for labor in South Africa. From 1904 to 1910 Britain was in dire need of cheap labor to work the gold mines of the Witwatersrand due to labor shortages following the Boer War. More than 63,000 Chinese miners were brought in through an indentured worker arrangement to dig for gold. This influx of Chinese workers stimulated the economy of South Africa, but the Chinese were sent home in 1910. 8vo, 4pp.

Boston: Lincoln & Edmands, 1819. Seventh edition. Hardcover. Good + overall. Second volume of two, complete in itself, with much material on China (pp481 - 527) and Australasia. On Australia, "Some have supposed that this extensive region, when more thoroughly investigated, would be found to consist of two, three, or more vast islands, intersected by narrow seas. This however is not justified by the testimony of the latest voyagers. New Holland is evidently one mass of land... (p695). Thick 8vo, folding frontispiece map of Europe, 859pp. Folding map of Asia, folding map of Africa. Original calf, covers worn, spine perished, vertical crack, but holding. Internally pages somewhat toned, marked.

Shanghai / Leipsic: Kelly & Walsh Ltd./Hirth, 1888. Pamphlet. Very good condition. Descriptions of period porcelaines from T'ang, Sung, Ch'ing, Ch'ai and Ju, Ting-yao, Chun-yao, Juan-yao, Lunch-ch'uan-yao and Ko'yao. This was in the collection of Dr. George Brush, a US Naval captain from Long Island, who would personally have purchased this copy in China, although it does not bear his usual stamp. Brush was a ship's doctor for the American Squadron in the China Seas. He purchased many pamphlets on his trip to the East and was in the habit of carrying them around with him in his breast pocket, which results in a slight vertical fold in some pamphlets. 8vo, iv, 80pp with index, gray paper covers with red and black titles. Rear pages have fox spotting, otherwise clean and bright. Originally published in the 1887 Journal of Royal Asiatic Society in a shorter form.

Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh, 1931. Hardcover. Very good condition. A presentation copy of a scarce volume celebrating the 25th anniversary of a Danish engineering company that brought western technology to the industrial development of 1900s China, and secured the exclusive right to represent General Electric in China. Andersen Meyer first worked on a joint basis with an American import export firm based in Shanghai named Fearon, Daniel & Company, to set up an engineering firm in China. In 1907 it won the right to represent G. E. in China and in 1908 secured its first large contract with the Mukden Electric Light Works. The firm quickly diversified from the construction and engineering fields to partner with American makers of textile machinery and equipment, selling the first cotton mill entirely equipped with American machinery. It also expanded into power plant machinery, electrical machinery including Xray equipment, plumbing and heating equipment, agricultural machinery, and drugs and… Read More

1900. Very good overall. Pen and ink caricature depicting a Chinese man held aloft by his pigtail by an Allied soldier, with the handwritten title above. The soldier, likely an American Marine, wears a uniform with jodhpurs. He grins at the much smaller and grimacing Chinese man, who hangs in the air dressed in a robe and dangling slippers. The Boxers were Chinese displaced by natural disasters and angered by the interference of the West through their opium trade and Christian missionaries. Eventually supported by the Qing government army, they proceeded to attack foreign settlements and Chinese Christians in Northern China, including in Tientsin. An alliance of foreign troops, including Russians, Japanese, Americans, British, French, Germans and Austrians was formed to protect their countrymen. The Allies were able, after a great struggle and approximately 800 casualties, to successfully repel the much larger force of Boxers and Chinese troops at the Battle of Tientsin on July 13-14, 1900. The… Read More

Tokyo: Herald Press, 1931. Pamphlet. Very good condition. A Japanese propaganda effort to present their point of view on the "present trouble in Manchuria". The Herald of Asia, Library of Contemporary History No. 3. Sml. 8vo, III, 22pp (1). Orig. tan wrappers, printed title on front wrapper. OCLC: 35773846.

Tokyo: Sokokusha, 1932. Paperback. Good + overall. Anti-foreign teachings in new text-books of China. Quote from p. 103, "On the continent (Australia) too, the population of the natives is annualy decreasing, and therefore they may be exterminated before long. The Englishmen in Australia have declared the so-called "White Australia" and are preventing the immigrants of other races to come in. Therefore the Chinese living there are terribly illtreated." 8vo, tan paper covers, black text on front. 109 pp English, 72 pp Chinese. Cover dusty, spine sunned, top inch of spine missing but secure, top right corner bumped, interior clean, binding tight. OCLC Number: 221927219.

1840. Good + condition. Beautiful antique 19th century Qi'ing dynasty Chinese painted and embroidered fan in octagonal lacquer frame. The image depicts a scene of tea drinking in an outdoor pavilion, with a servant at the left bringing tea to a seated couple. Intricately embroidered flowers and rocks appear in a landscape of plants and pavilions. The image is embroidered in the finest satin stitches using multi- colored silk threads, the landscape in the foreground with rocks and flowers embroidered in bright striped areas of pink, green and red. With a manuscript card below the silk fan, which reads, "Fan brought from Madras India by Aunt Mary M. Day, 1889". Signed "Grace Holt Newton" with further note, "From the estate of the late Helen E. McAleer, Cortland NY". Mounted in an octagonal gilt decorated black lacquer frame, 10" in diameter. The silk damaged along edges where it has pulled away from the frame; the frame with small abrasion at center of bottom edge where fan stem was attached (no… Read More

Peking: L'Edition Ouvriere, 1956. Paperback. Sports magazine, folio, unpaginated, in French and Chinese; with a color photo of Chairman Mao Tse-toung (sic). A magazine promoting sports and health published six years after the establishment of the Republique Populaire de Chine; with a goal of preparing the athletes for the Olympic games in Melbourne in 1956. Photographs of ping pong, basket ball, soccer, crew, swimming, ice hockey, skiing, bicycling, etc; and with a list of athletes who achieved new records. In French. Many photos, b&w and color. Slight damage at right hand page edges early, o/w very good. HKD580.