Douanes

1904 · rif. 150513 — Shanghai: 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