Customs

Customs Service: Officers in Charge 1859-1921.

1926ref. 193296Shanghai: Statistical Department of the Inspectorate General of Customs 1926. From the library of the Commissioner of Customs at Canton First edition thus with the Canton library's ink stamp and bookplate. Though unmarked as such this valuable reference was subsequently owned by Lester Knox Little 1892-1981 a commissioner in Canton in the 1930s and later the service's last inspector-general and was acquired by a private collector from his family in 1999. The service's list of officers first compiled in 1880 was periodically revised and updated; this was the fourth iteration. Tables give Western and Chinese names salaries current titles dates of appointment and the Chinese colleagues with whom each officer worked. At the time this copy entered the library - September 1926 - the service's Canton operation was led by Francis Hayley Bell 1877-1944 the commissioner officiating. In 1936 he became the defence security officer in Singapore. Quarto. Tables in text. Original yellow boards green cloth backstrip covers printed in black. Old manuscript label on spine. Spine sunned soiling on covers: very good. hardcover

Peter Harrington · United Kingdom£1,750.00≈ €2,090.10

CHINESE MARITIME CUSTOMSBiblio.com

War: 1914-1918. Record of Services Given and Honours Attained by Members.

1922ref. 173387Shanghai: Statistical Department of the Inspectorate General of Customs 1922. A scarce customs service publication First edition first printing of this informative tribute to the 66 employees of the custom service who served during the First World War as well as the 23 men killed during the conflict. Copies are recorded in just four institutional libraries British Library Leeds Cornell and the University of Hong Kong. For each member of staff sections give their record of service ranks the countries and battles in which they fought honours and wounds received and "other particulars of interest". The majority served on the Western and Eastern Fronts and several were seconded to the Chinese Labour Corps on account of their linguistic skills. The final entry concerns G. R. G. Worcester 1890-1969 whose works on Chinese craft and navigation remain definitive. Octavo. Roll of honour plate decorative title page and initial text printed within red frames. Original purple pebble-grain cloth front cover lettered in gilt patterned endpapers. Spine sunned rear board a touch soiled contents clean: a very good copy. hardcover

Peter Harrington · United Kingdom£1,500.00≈ €1,791.52

CHINESE MARITIME CUSTOMS - CHEN, Xiafei, & Han Rongfang (eds).Biblio.com

Confidential Correspondence Between Robert Hart and James Duncan Campbell 1874-1907.

1990ref. 173560Beijing: Foreign Languages Press 1990-93. Lifting the veil on late-Qing diplomacy First editions first printings complete with its original box of this historical compendium equal in stature to Morse's Chronicles of the East India Company Trading to China. The scope covers some 3500 letters and 5000 telegrams sent between Beijing and the customs service's London office all drawn from the service's confidential archives and nearly all never before made publicly accessible. The volumes were born out of a long-running collaboration between the Second Historical Archives of China and the Institute of Modern History China Academy of Social Sciences. The Hart-Campbell correspondence is presented unabridged and without editorial corrections to retain as much of the original feel of the documents as possible. New editions have been published in China in the last two decades. 4 vols octavo pp. 942; 1158; 1576; 675. Original blue cloth spines lettered in silver gold bookmarkers. Housed in publisher's box with plastic toggles. Vol. I shaken rear inner hinge starting front board slightly bowed; jackets without prices as issued toned and creased Vol. I jacket cockled and faded Vol. IV jacket cockled: a very good set in like jackets box splitting along one edge lid sunned internal lining worn in places. hardcover

Peter Harrington · United Kingdom£1,000.00≈ €1,194.34

CHINESE MARITIME CUSTOMSBiblio.com

Service List 1904.

1904ref. 150513Shanghai: Statistical Department of the Inspectorate General of Customs 1904. A Commissioner's record of four decades of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service First edition sole printing with a pleasing provenance of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service internal staff list for 1904 issued to the sinologist Charles Williams in his first year as an employee. Williams annotated this copy throughout his successful three-decade career to track the fortunes of Service colleagues. His signed armorial bookplate is to the front pastedown. Charles Alfred Speed Williams began working for the Service's revenue department in November 1903 at the junior level of Fourth Assistant. He rose to the rank of Acting Commissioner at the Lungchow station before retiring in late 1935. On leaving the service he was given the honorary rank of Commissioner. Williams' manuscript additions show that he maintained an evolving record of the careers of those who worked with him in the revenue department. He notes colleagues who reached the senior grade of Commissioner and their dates of compulsory retirement while he also records whether members of staff resigned retired or died in office. In line with his own interest in the Chinese language Williams also highlights those who attained the Service's highest grade of Chinese language proficiency. The Chinese Maritime Customs Service was founded in 1854 by Britain and other foreign powers to collect taxes on maritime trade for the Chinese government but its remit quickly expanded to include domestic customs administration the postal service waterway and harbour management and meteorology. These areas of responsibility inevitably overlapped with diplomatic and political issues making the Service one of the most powerful bureaucratic entities in the country. Between 1875 and 1948 the Service published an annual list containing basic information on all members of staff and their responsibilities. These volumes only ever distributed for internal use represent a valuable record of the Service's contributions to the economic and political history of modern China. Alongside his successful career in the Chinese customs bureaucracy Williams maintained a deep scholarly interest in Chinese history and culture. He is most well-known for Outlines of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives: An Alphabetical Compendium of Antique Legends and Beliefs as Reflected in the Manners and Customs of the Chinese 1931 a work that went through multiple editions over several decades. In 1969 he published his autobiographical Chinese Tribute which recounts his colourful experiences working for the Maritime Customs Service. Quarto. Original brown pebble-grain cloth title to spine in gilt sides ruled in blind edges sprinkled red. A little rubbed and marked overall tips bumped with light wear edges slightly dusty offsetting to endpapers touch of foxing to contents else bright. A very good copy indeed. hardcover