WHITE, Herbert C. [Art Director]. Introduction by Hu Shih.

Peking The Beautiful.

"A work of immeasurable value to China and to the world, as an authentic record of picturesque Peking": Rare First edition of Herbert C. White's Peking The Beautiful; in exceptional condition

Shanghai, China: The Commercial Press, Limited, 1927.

$9,800.00

In Stock Item Number: RRB-149511

Custom Clamshell Box (+$450)

* Custom Clamshell Boxes are hand made by the Harcourt Bindery upon request and take approximately 60 days to complete

Add to cart

Ask a Question Shipping & Guarantee

First edition of White's fine photographic study of the monuments of Shanghai. Folio, original royal blue embroidered silk pictorial boards, illustrated with seventy mounted color and monochrome photographic plates of the celebrated monuments of China's Northern Capital and its environs complete with descriptive and historical notes by Herbert C. White, Art Director of Signed of the Times Publishing House, Shanghai. Introduction by Hu Shih, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy at the National University of Peking. In fine condition. Housed in the original publisher's box. Very rare in such fine condition.

Herbert C. White (1896-1962) arrived in China in 1922, together with his twin brother James H. White (1896-1954). They opened a language school in Beijing. Attracted by Chinese landscapes and civilization, they used their vacations to travel around the country and took large numbers of photographs. This album is a selection of photographs of the city gates and walls, the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City, and the temples and monasteries of Beijing. It presents a realistic view of the city's appearance during the early Republican era. From the preface: "For a long time there has been a recognized need for an album on historic Peking that would embody a representative set of all the important monuments of the capital. The very fact that so many of the ancient landmarks ... are being torn from their foundations and ruthlessly destroyed, makes an album of this kind not only interesting as an art volume, but a work of immeasurable value to China and to the world, as an authentic record of picturesque Peking."