Product Type
Condition
Binding
Collectible Attributes
Free Shipping
Seller Location
Seller Rating
Leatherbound. Condition: NEW. Leatherbound edition. Condition: New. Leather Binding on Spine and Corners with Golden leaf printing on spine. Bound in genuine leather with Satin ribbon page markers and Spine with raised gilt bands. A perfect gift for your loved ones. Reprinted from 1921 edition. NO changes have been made to the original text. This is NOT a retyped or an ocr'd reprint. Illustrations, Index, if any, are included in black and white. Each page is checked manually before printing. As this print on demand book is reprinted from a very old book, there could be some missing or flawed pages, but we always try to make the book as complete as possible. Fold-outs, if any, are not part of the book. If the original book was published in multiple volumes then this reprint is of only one volume, not the whole set. IF YOU WISH TO ORDER PARTICULAR VOLUME OR ALL THE VOLUMES YOU CAN CONTACT US. Resized as per current standards. Sewing binding for longer life, where the book block is actually sewn (smythe sewn/section sewn) with thread before binding which results in a more durable type of binding. Pages: 220 Language: English Pages: 220.
ISBN 10: 751171515XISBN 13: 9787511715159
Seller: liu xing, Nanjing JiangSu, JS, China
Book
paperback. Condition: New. Ship out in 2 business day, And Fast shipping, Free Tracking number will be provided after the shipment.Paperback. Pub Date: 2013 Pages: 182 Language: Chinese in Publisher: Central Compilation and Translation Press the Northern Beijing: Master Photographers horizon a collection of 66 works in Manny picturesque these works through the dust filled caravan. morning mist. lakes. pagodas. temples. bridges. markets. alley. as well as those with traditional Chinese painting fun. Kyrgyzstan landscape of places. to express the glory of the imperial capital. Contents: Introduction magnificent photo Confucius Temple archway Summer Palace. Beihai entrance - the Winter Palace Andingmen Avenue Shenyu disappeared in the clouds. with the sun Qi Guanghui - the Piyun Temple Qinglongqiao - Nankou Channel Summer Palace Paiyun Dian Temple of Heaven entrance Practical shop Xishan Dragon King Tong the Xishan Jietaisi Lama Temple courtyard caravans Juyongguan marble door sun the dusty avenue (Yongdingmen nearby) under the Summer Palace promenade lunch by the level of which door (Fuchengmen) North Sea archway and marble bridge Xizhimen tower under the Temple of Azure Clouds marble pagoda Tartar Tartar city (inner city) streets. South Side Great Wall Wall. windy stirring up the dust of the archway stone paved road within Beihai Park Forbidden City to the streets of the Western Hills Road shops Drum Tower duskFour Satisfaction guaranteed,or money back.
Published by Watson S. A. Shanghai, 1920
Seller: Antique Emporium, Eau Claire, WI, U.S.A.
Book First Edition
Soft cover. Condition: Good. 1st Edition. Oblong 4to volume in soft covers. Front cover is missing Back present with one chipped corner. Contents are in good condition with no damages or staining. 30 photographs. Quite rare.
Shanghai, A.S. Watson & Co, 1922. 40 pp. 60 tipped in photogr. plts. Original silk covered boards with gilt title. Folio. - Spine & edges worn (some losses of the silk); decorative bookplate on first free endpaper. * Large photogravures of Peking and surroundings after photographs by Donald Mennie. Text by: Putnam Weale.
Published by A. S. Watson & Co., Shanghai, China, 1922
Seller: Midway Book Store (ABAA), St. Paul, MN, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Good. Third Edition. 39 x 29 cm. Folio. 40pp introduction. Illustrated with 66 tipped in photogravures by Donald Mennie with descriptive notes by S. Couling. Blue silk covers, gilt lettering to cover. Piece out of tail of spine. The silk binding is wearing off the covers. Musty aroma. Spotting to endpapers.
Published by A.S. Watson & Co.
Seller: Hay-on-Wye Booksellers, Hay-on-Wye, HEREF, United Kingdom
Condition: Good. Circa 1920. String bound hardboards are worn/marked/foxed. Bumped corners. Edgeworn. Spine has 2 split on the bottom, smaller split at the top & small section missing from top edge. Photographs are in excellent condition. Contact us for more information.
Shanghai [1921], Watson. Rebound in full black cloth, gold titles, 40p. text + 61p. Mennie b.w. photo gravures,notes by [S. Couling], new end papers, contents very clean & solid, a large size folio 31 x 39 cm. SECOND EDITION . *** **** *** . . A GRAND AND DELUXE EDITION . . . WITH 66 SUPERB PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIES . * A grand scale work, DELUXE EDITION, consisting of 66 photographic studies, each tipped-in on a separate page, with elaborate descriptions. . A wonderful set of old photographs of the Old capitol of Peking. Shows the architecture, walls, gates, palaces, shrines, people, monuments & temples. . Each photo is carefully executed and done with the greatest composition & artistic talent. Marvelous record of the city, people, sights and stone architecture of bridges, tall gates &c. . All photos are tipped in, superbly composed images. . *** The first appearance of Donald Mennie's photographs in any book form was in Elizabeth Cooper's: My Lady of the Chinese Courtyard, New York, 1914. He is well-known for his stunning photos of other Chinese photographic books, please inquire with us for other titles by him. . *** WHO WAS DONALD MENNIE: Donald Mennie [1875/1876-1941]), was a Scottish businessman and amateur photographer who worked in early twentieth century China. Mennie was born in Scotland in 1875 or 1876 being aged 15 when listed as a chemist s apprentice in the Scottish census of April 1891 for a residence in Main street, Golspie, Sutherlandshire with 2 younger brothers by name of James and Adam and apparently an elder brother Archibald Argo as head of household. His brother appears to also a chemist. Little is known of Mennie's early years or how he came to China, but having arrived there by 1899 he first worked as an assistant in the firm of Mactavish & Lehman & Co. in Peking [now Beijing] and then joined A.S. Watson & Co. in Shanghai, eventually becoming the firm's managing director. . *** Color photos are posted to our website. . *** REFERENCES: Donald Mennie: en-wikipedia-org/wiki/Donald_Mennie . *.
Published by A. S. Watson & Co. Shanghai 2nd. revised edition. Small oblong folio, 1928
Seller: Patrick Pollak Rare Books ABA ILAB, SOUTH BRENT, DEVON, United Kingdom
Printed title, 30 tipped-in Vandyck photogravures, mounted on grained, grey paper. Card covers, cord bound, with a mounted gravure on the front cover, the spine ends a bit worn, a very good copy. *THOMAS H. HAHN. Bibliography of Photo-albums and Materials related to Photography in China and Tibet before 1949. Mennie, Donald 1922; 2nd. edition ca. 1928: China North and South: 23 x 29 cm; SEE Theye: mentioned on p. 528; Worswick/Spence p. 146.
Published by A.S.Watson and Co, Shanghai, 1920
Seller: N1 Books, Saltdean, United Kingdom
First Edition
Decorative Cloth. Condition: Very Good. Donald Mennie (illustrator). First Edition. Shanghai, published by A.S.Watson and Co. No date, but circa 1920. First edition. Landscape Octavo. Title page and 30 leaves of mounted photographic views of China, each of which sits in a printed border with a printed caption beneath it. Bound in the original publisher s limp buckram with printed titles in English and Chinese and a mounted photogravure illustration to the front cover. Contents held together with a decorative cord tied through the covers. Title page a little mottled/foxed. Otherwise, a very nice copy with the contents, binding and decorative cord clean, unmarked and in very good condition. Further photographs available on request. NB The price of this item is negotiable dependent on your chosen payment method. Please feel free to make contact for further information on this item or on payment options. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.
Published by Shanghai: A. S. Watson & Co., 1920
Book First Edition
Hardcover. Condition: Good. First Edition. First edition. Limited edition of 1000 copies. Folio, 39 x 29 cm. Bound in original blue silk, with gilt lettering. Some wear to cover cloth, with loss to silk at corner edges. Solid binding. 4 preliminary leaves, 40 pages, 66 mounted photographs of old Beijing (Peking). Descriptive letterpress on versos facing the plates. Scattered foxing. "The aesthetic photographer Donald Mennie (1899-1941) was active in Shanghai and Peking from 1920 until the late 30's. His soft-toned pictorialist images of the capital and its people show the deep admiration which Mennie felt for the Chinese and their culture. This work includes 66 folio photographs of early 20th century Peking and the surrounding area and includes photos of famous views such as the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and scenes of shopkeepers, merchants, travellers and monks" (Western Travellers in China).
Published by A.S. Watson & Co., Ltd., Printed & Bound by Kelly & Walsh, Ltd., [1921]., Shanghai:, 1921
Seller: Zephyr Used & Rare Books, Vancouver, WA, U.S.A.
Folio. [6], 40 pp. Title in red & black, rubricated decorated initial, with 66 tipped-in sepia- and aqua-tinted photogravures, each w/ printed border, explanatory text on facing page. Publisher's decorated blue silk over beveled boards, gilt lettering stamped on front cover (rebacked in blue silk, gilt lettering on spine in equivalent font, wear to fore-edges of boards w/ minor loss at fore-edges on front & back covers, minor bumping & wear to corners), still VG- copy, w/ interior in excellent condition, from the library of Dr. Leonard William Buck (1891-1953), scion of the famed Buck family in Vacaville, CA, whose holdings included Bucktown, and the ranch where the California Medical Facility is located. Dr. Buck traveled to Asia on behalf of the California Grower's and Shipper's protective League at the behest of his brother Frank in 1921. Second edition of this large and beautiful photographic souvenir portraying the ancient Chinese capital and surrounding countryside. The striking images by Mennie portray Chinese temples, palaces, peddlers, laborers, ancient walled cities, Chinese shops, and Chinese eating at outdoor tables at the beginning of the 20th century. Mennie (1875/6-1941), trained as a chemist and worked as an amateur photographer in Scotland. He initially began working in China as an assistant in the firm of Mactavish & Lehman & Co. in Beijing, later working for the Mactavish Photo Shop in Shanghai, as one of the first producers in China of picture postcards. He later joined the A.S. Watson & Co. -- chemists, druggists, wine, spirits, & cigar Merchants who also dealt in all kinds of photographic chemicals and equipment, later becoming their managing director (the firm still flourishes to this day as one of the largest health and beauty retailers in the world). Mennie contributed photographic images for numerous works, and published several of his own images. He died in the Japanese Lungwha internment camp near Shanghai in 1941. See: Worswick & Spence, Imperial China: Photographs 1850-1912 (1979).
Published by A. S. Watson, Shanghai, 1922
Seller: By Books Alone, Woodstock, NY, U.S.A.
Original Cloth. Condition: Fair. Third Edition. Text fine and clean with all mounted photographs present. Spine mostly missing; top and bottom edges of covers worn; ownership notation on front flyleaf.
Published by A.S. Watson & Co., Shanghai, China, 1920
Seller: Panoply Books, Lambertville, NJ, U.S.A.
Book
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Donald Mennie (illustrator). Limited Edition. Blue silk covers are mostly clean, with gilt text and decoration. Boards show some age, smudges, warping, edgewear. Corners are bumped and frayed, with exposed board. Spine has some marks, with crushed, frayed ends. See photos. Binding is secure. Final sheet with colophon is partially detached. See photos. Pastedowns and feps have some light foxing. Illustrations are clear, plates are tipped-in, with marginal age-toning. See photos. Interior is gently age-toned, exhibits scattered foxing. Inside pages are free of writing and intentional marks. Colophon has edition information and owner inscription by Walter H. Daub. Text block edges have deckle fore edges.** PS2023.0315** 66 plates, 40 pages. 15 x 11.5 inches** Sixty-six Vandyck photogravure images of Peking and its environs, from photographs by Donald Mennie (1875-1944). Mennie was a Scottish businessman and amateur photographer living in China. His business interests in Shanghai centered on A.S. Watson, a company dealing in chemicals, wines, spirits, cigars, and photographic chemicals and materials. This volume was essentially published by Mennie, and it features classically composed views of gardens, buildings, and street views. The introductory text is by Putnam Weale, the pen name of Bertram Lenox Simpson, a British author and agent active in Chinese affairs.** This copy, #64 of an edition of 1000, bears the name of Walter H. Daub. His son, Walter H. Daub Jr. (Princeton University, Class of 1939) attended the Shanghai American School, possibly in the 1920s.** "Postage for oversized and international shipping will be calculated by size and weight. AbeBooks shipping quotes are ESTIMATES only. Seller Inventory #009655"**.
Published by A. S. Watson & Co., Shanghai, 1921
Seller: J. Wyatt Books, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Hardcover. Mennie, Donald (illustrator). 2nd Edition. This is the 2nd edition published in 1921. Title page shows 1920 - probably the 1st edition sheets were used for this edition. 40 pages of text followed by 66 photogravures, each tipped in on a separate sheet and bordered in brown. Pages are in excellent condition except for a small stain on the Contents page and the Introduction page. Interior of book is VG+. Blue silk binding with gilt titles and decoration on the front. The silk is in very poor condition - torn, missing pieces and much of it detached from the boards. Front hinge is loose and a little torn. Exterior of book is POOR, interior is VG+. Scarce book. **heavy - may require extra postage** Size: 11 1/2 x 15.
Published by A.S.Watson, Shanghai (China), 1921
Seller: B & L Rootenberg Rare Books, ABAA, Sherman Oaks, CA, U.S.A.
FIRST EDITION, SECOND ISSUE. Plates measure 7 ½ x 11 inches. Rubricated initials. Original blue silk cloth with Chinese cyphers, gilt lettering on front cover; silk repair to spine with slight stain in crease and on top edge of cover, still an exceptionally fine copy, complete with the original silk bookmark. From the library of Charles R. Crane, with his business card noting: "Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America." Crane (1858-1939) was originally appointed minister to China in 1909, but before leaving was recalled to Washington where he was forced to resign by Secretary of State Philander C. Knox for his published objections to treaties between Japan and China. He later served as minister to China between 1920 and 1921. Crane was a virulent anti-Semite and an admirer of Hitler. He later founded the Institute of Current World Affairs. First edition, second issue, with the title page showing the 1920 first edition date, and the copyright page noting that the first (numbered) edition was published in November, 1920, and that our copy was issued in January, 1921 as a second edition (but actually a re-printing of the first edition; no other copies are located with this copyright date imprint). Mennie (1875-1941) was a Scottish photographer who worked in early twentieth century China. His marvelous images depict a record of the city, people, sights and architecture and "evoked a romantic vision of antique China, featuring shopkeepers, travelers, merchants, dusty caravans, misty villages, old palaces, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall of China" (see Worswick and Spence, Photographs of Imperial China, 1980). Mennie was proposed as a member of the Royal Geographic Society for his Grandeur of the Gorges (1926) depicting scenes along the Yangtze River.
Published by A. S. Watson & Co., Shanghai (The Shaghai Pharmacy Ltd.), 1920
Seller: Jacques Gander, Fairford, United Kingdom
Hard Cover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Second & Revised Edition. Cord bound album with stiff card covers with black lettering and photo pasted on the front.Undated, though 1920s. Title page and 30 leaves each with a tipped on Vandyk photogravure with printed captions. The pages are all bound within the covers by a cord passing through two holes and tied at the front board.Some spliting along the sides of the spine back strip, and an inch missing from the lower spine back strip. Contents and photgravures all very good.
Published by Shanghai: A.S Watson & Co, 1920
Seller: Picture This (ABA, ILAB, IVPDA), Sunningdale, United Kingdom
Book First Edition
Soft cover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. First edition. Not dated but circa 1920's. Quarto in horizontal format, 285mm x 225mm. Brown card covers with a sepia photogravure image tipped onto the upper panel. String bound. Thirty tipped in photogravures by Mennie taken throughout China and with captions in English. Donald Mennie was a long time resident of Shanghai and Managing Director of A.S. Watson. A lovely copy of this book in just about Fine condition. Rare, only one copy listed on Copac and a further four on Worldcat.
Published by Shanghai: A.S Watson & Co, 1920
Seller: Picture This (ABA, ILAB, IVPDA), Sunningdale, United Kingdom
Book
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. 2nd Edition. Second and revised edition. Not dated, but circa 1920's. Quarto in horizontal format, 285mm x 225mm. Beige paper covered hard boards with a sepia photogravure image tipped onto the upper panel. String bound. Thirty tipped in photogravures by Mennie taken throughout China and with captions in English. Donald Mennie was a long time resident of Shanghai and Managing Director of A.S. Watson. A little wear to the rear boards, contents in Fine condition. The first edition of this book was in soft wraps, here the second edition is more attractively presented with hard boards.
Published by Shanghai. Watson. Kelly & Walsh., 1926
First Edition
Hardback. Condition: Fine. No Jacket. First Edition. No. 350 of 1000 of the first edition. A Fine copy complete with 50 photographic plates (12 hand coloured) in the original decorative silk binding showing a view of the Yangtse. Extremly minor soiling to lower cover, occasional odd small spot, otherwise a Fine clean and fresh copy.
Published by ShanghaiA. S. Watson & Company The Shanghai Pharmacy Ltd and Kelly & Walsh Limited ., 1932
Seller: Robert Frew Ltd. ABA ILAB, London, United Kingdom
Book
Second edition. Large 4to. (31.5 x 25.5 cm). Publisher's original gilt-sprayed half calf over black silk boards with gilt lettering, title-page printed in green and black. 50 full page tipped-in plates of which 38 are photogravures and 12 are hand coloured silver gelatin plates, numerous vignettes throughout. Some light rubbing to extremities, generally an excellent copy of the second edition of this work which was first published in 1926. Donald Mennie (1899-1944) was trained as a chemist in Scotland. He came to China in 1899 and initially worked for Mactavish & Lehman in Beijing but later moved to Shanghai where he was in the employ of the chemist wine, spirit, & cigar merchants A. S. Watson & Co. Mennie was a gifted amateur photographer of the "pictorialist" school, and many of his images capture the feeling of the end-of-an-era. The present spectacular photographic record of the Upper Yangtze was taken during two excursions in the low-level season, one on a steamer from Ichang to Chungking, the other by native boat through the districts between Ichang and Wan Hsien. Each plate faces a short descriptive note written by Lieut. Comdr. H. Foote Carey, who accompanied Mennie on the second trip. Two variants exist of the binding, the present one being the one with an embroidered scenic view of the Gorges.
Published by Shanghai: A.S Watson & Co, 1922
Seller: Picture This (ABA, ILAB, IVPDA), Sunningdale, United Kingdom
Book
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 3rd Edition. Third Edition, 1922 (originally published in 1920). Folio, 29cm x 38.5cm. Hard boards covered in black silk with leather spine and corners all covered in Gold Leaf and lettering and decoration in gilt to front board. This alternative Black & Gold binding is much rarer than the standard Blue Silk covering; in our experience around 1 in 10 copies have the variant binding. Forty page introduction by Putnam Weale followed by the 66 photogravures tipped into the recto of each page with detailed caption opposite. Printed and bound by Kelly & Walsh in Shanghai. In Very Good Condition. Black silk on the front cover is bright, but with some dust dulling towards the top, gilt decoration also bright and fresh. The silk on the rear cover is also a little dust dulled. Gold leaf is a bit rubbed to the spine from general aging and wear. Internally the front endpaper has four circular areas where the paper has thinned, possibly something was originally fixed there and then removed. The binding is pulling at the title page, beginning to split and exposing the webbing, but overall binding remains solid. A most sumptuous book.
Published by A.S. Watson & Co., 1922
Seller: Collectors' Bookstore, Deurne, Belgium
Book First Edition
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. First Edition. First Edition thus, fine condition. The Pageant of Peking Comprising sixty-six Vandyck photogravures of Peking and environs. With an introduction by Putnam Weale Special Collection by Donald Mennie. Published by A.S. Watson & Co. in 1922. Hardcover. What makes this title so special is its limited availability. - Publishers Weekly. Collectible item in excellent condition.
Published by Shanghai: A.S. Watson & Co, 1920, 1920
Seller: Chinese Art Books, Baoding, HEBEI, China
First Edition
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. First edition, first printing. Folio, 39*30cm, wt:3.1kg, 40pp+66 tipped-in photogravures. Limited to 1,000 copies, this being No. 868. Some general wear and fading to the silk covering, otherwise a very good copy with bright and crisp pages.
Published by Shanghai: A.S. Watson / Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1926
Seller: Picture This (ABA, ILAB, IVPDA), Sunningdale, United Kingdom
Book First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First edition, limited edition of 1,000 copies, this being number 561. Quarto, 265mm x 315mm. Preface by Donald Mennie and with an introduction by Marc T. Greene. SIGNED by Donald Mennie in black ink to the limitation page. Fifty plates tipped into the book, of which 12 are gelatin silver prints that have been hand coloured and the remaining images are photo-mechanical reproductions. In the variant binding of original gilt-sprayed half calf over black silk with gilt lettering. The images are tipped onto the rectos, with detailed captions and a line drawing of a similar scene by Henry Gandy, each being initialed 'H.G.G.'. Donald Mennie was a Scottish-born American photographer and entrepreneur. In China he first worked for MacTavish, Lehmann & Co. of Shanghai, later the MacTavish Photo Shop, one of the first producers of picture post-cards of Shanghai. He then moved to A.S. Watson & Co., rising to become their managing director. He also published the Pageant of Peking in 1922 and several other photographic albums of China. Internally the book is in Fine condition as is the black silk and titling. The gilt on the spine and corners is rather rubbed and thus the book grades Near Fine. Colonel Henry George Gandy (1879-1950) served with the Royal Engineers in Ceylon from 1928 to his retirement in 1932. He visited Hong Kong, China and Singapore around this time and many paintings by him were used for book illustrations, Tuck's postcards and other commercial purposes. [Ref: Parr & Lundgren, The Chinese Photobook, p42-3]. Signed by Author(s).
Published by Shanghai: A.S. Watson & Co, 1920, 1920
Seller: Chinese Art Books, Baoding, HEBEI, China
Book First Edition
Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. First edition, first printing. Folio, 39*30cm, wt:3.1kg, 40pp,66 tipped-in photogravures. Limited to 1,000 copies, this being No. 804. Slight water stains to front and back covers, general wear and fading to silk covering, otherwise a very good copy with bright and crisp pages. More photos available upon request.
Published by Shanghai. Watson. Kelly & Walsh.,, 1926
Seller: Senkei Co., Ltd., Taito City, TOKYO, Japan
First Edition
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First edition. No. 739 of a limited edition of 1000 copies. 50 photographic plates (incl. 12 original hand-coloured gelatine silver prints). Folio. Original decorative silk binding.
Cloth. Condition: Near Fine. Donald Mennie (illustrator). First edition. A very bright copy of this beautiful photogravure work on Peking/Beijing at the start of the twentieth century. One of only 1000 copies printed of this edition. This is number 716.With 66 photogravure plates by Donald Mennie. With accompanying text by Putnam Weale.Former owner's inscription to the recto of front endpaper, dated 1929 in Shanghai, China. ''To my dear Mother & Father from Harry'.Collated, complete with the original silk ribbon marker loosely inserted.A fantastic work, which depicts early twentieth century China in all its glory. In the original blue silk binding. Slightly faded to the edges, with bumping to the corners. A few light marks to the boards. Former owner's inscription dated 1929 to the recto of front endpaper. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright. Occasional light spots to pages. Near Fine. book.
Published by Shanghai: A. S. Watson & Company (The Shanghai Pharmacy, Ltd) [and] Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1926, 1926
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
First Edition
First edition, first printing, number 142 of 1000 copies, with the limitation page printed ad personam for Mrs. Lansing Hoyt, spouse of the chairman of the Yangtze Rapid Steamship Company. The company operated the Yichang to Chongqing river route travelled by the photographer when preparing this iconic work. We have traced just two similar personalized copies, neither with the same pleasing Yangtze association. Josephine C. Cudahy (b.1884), an heir to the Cudahy meatpacking fortune, married Lansing Weed Hoyt (1884-1954) in 1917. After the war, Lansing Hoyt became the American trade commissioner in Shanghai. In 1924, he was approached to be chairman of the Yangtze Rapid Steamship Company, formed from the merger of three smaller shipping firms: a former company of the same name, the Upper Yangtze Trading Company, and the Ichang Steamship Company. During the next twelve years, the Yangtze Rapid transported goods along the river between Yichang and Chongqing, operating a dozen ships at its peak. In 1935, the business was wound down and the Hoyts returned to Milwaukee, where the former shipping titan pursued a career in Republican Party politics. Donald Mennie (1875-1944) was a Scottish-born American photographer and entrepreneur who arrived in China in the late 1880s. There, he first worked for MacTavish, Lehmann & Co., later the MacTavish Photo Shop, one of the first producers of picture postcards of Shanghai. By 1914, he was working at A. S. Watson & Co., the Chinese equivalent of Boots, and eventually rose to become their managing director. Like Boots, Watsons offered photographic services, hence its partnership here with the leading Shanghai publisher Kelly & Walsh. Mennie employed the obsolete wet-plate process and printed his photographs in photogravure, often employing hand-colouring as in the present work. The overall impression is consciously antiquarian and an evocation of China's romantic past, epitomised in the country's beating heart: the majestic Yangtze. Quarto. Contemporary brown full morocco, bevelled boards, front cover lettered in gilt, top and bottom edge trimmed, fore edge untrimmed. With 50 tipped-in photogravure plates (12 hand-coloured), line-drawn vignettes after pen and ink sketches by Lieutenant Colonel Henry George Gandy throughout. Text printed in sepia and green. Leather professionally retouched, small loss at foot of spine, tips worn, internally bright with occasional faint spotting and well-preserved plates. A very good copy indeed.