Colquhoun, Archibald RAntiquariat.de
[China; Yunnan]; Little ArchibaldBiblio.com
ACROSS YUNNAN: A JOURNEY OF SURPRISES Including an Account of the Remarkable French Railway Line now completed to Yunnan-fu
1910rif. 33716London: Sampson Low Marston & Co. Ltd. 1910. Very Rare First Edition. No Copies Currently Exist in Commerce. This copy with excellent provenance having come from the War Office marked received on 22 Apr 1910. Illustrated with many full-page plates from period photographs and a large folding map. 8vo publisher's original red cloth the spine lettered in gilt the upper cover decorated with Chinese bordrs in gilt and a central calligraphic ornament in black. 164 pp. A very fine copy as close to pristine as one could hope already unusually rare this copy is also extremely well preserved. VERY RARE FIRST EDITION AND ONE OF THE FIRST BOOKS IN ENGLISH TO DESCRIBE THE PROVINCE OF YUNNAN. Archibald Little wrote a number of books on China as did his wife Alicia who called herself Mrs. Archibald Little. Little was a merchant scholar and later travel writer who'd spent many years in China. With his wife they moved to Chungking an isolated city to the far west of the country. Impossibly hot in the summer the couple had planned to build a holiday home in the cooler countryside but the authorities blocked the idea after concern that the locals would not take kindly to foreigners. An idea was then hatched for the Littles to move onto a local farm by the Yangtse River for a few months with the hope that it might get the locals used to their presence. Published posthumously in 1910 Archibald Little's memoir of his journey across the Yunnan Province in Southwest China was one of the first comprehensive accounts of the region to be published in English. Little a skilled linguist worked as a merchant in China for over fifty years and opened up the Upper Yangtze area to steam-powered commerce. He was well known for his intrepid travels into territories not yet explored by Westerners and his record of this journey was originally published as a series of letters to the North China Herald. This book also contains Little's account of the building of the French Railway Line to Yunnan-Fu which provided a trade route from India to the Upper Yangtze region. Across Yunnan was completed and edited by Little's wife after his death in 1908. The book includes a detailed map of the area and several photographs. Research Gate Mrs. Archibald Little began a prolific two decade literary career in London focused primarily on highlighting the plight of women. During this time she was also active politically in the feminist movement penning pamphlets lecturing and campaigning around women's property rights suffrage. Both she and her husband traveled around China although Mrs. Little had to dress as a male to avoid attracting attention which had on occasion resulted in items being thrown at her. The book offered here is very rare. At the present time no copies appear in the marketplace or in commerce. Additionally this copy comes with very fine provenance having been owned by the British War Office. The War Office has referred to several British government organizations in history all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964 when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence MoD. It was at that time equivalent to the Admiralty responsible for the Royal Navy RN and much later the Air Ministry which oversaw the Royal Air Force RAF. The name 'War Office' is also given to the former home of the department located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London. Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd. hardcover
Buddenbrooks, Inc. · Stati Uniti3850,00 USD≈ 3446,12 €
