A Dissertation on the ancient Chinese vases of the Shang Dynasty, from 1743 to 1496, B.C. Illustrated with forty-two Chinese wood engravings.
by Thoms, Peter Perring
- Used
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Rye, East Sussex, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: published and printed by the author at 12 Warwick Square and sold by James Gilbert, bookseller., 1851. First edition. 8vo (24.5 x 16 cm), pp.63, [1, blank], [2, imprint], with 42 wood engravings in text, title with printed frame in red. Folio broadsheet (40 x 44 cm), folded and tipped-in at rear. A very good copy in original cloth by Josiah Westley. Slight wear to head and tail of spine. Broadsheet lightly age-toned, and torn on folds. A selection of excerpts from the 11th-century Bogu tulu, a Chinese catalogue of imperial bronzes in sixteen volumes, translated by the printer Peter Perring Thoms (1790-1855). Thoms believed that the majority of the vases were made of gold, and the mirrors of polished steel; his dissertation makes no mention of bronze at all. The wood engraved illustrations were done from blocks carved by A-Lae, a Chinese artist from Canton, and were shown at the 1851 Exhibition. This copy has a remarkable broadsheet, The Original Address presented to His Excellency Hwang, on his being appointed Deputy-Governor of the Province of Canton, during the reign of the Emperor Kang-he, about the year 1684, containing the signatures of seven hundred and seventy-six merchants and tradesmen, separately printed and published by Thoms in 1851, tipped-in and a note from Henry Bohm recording his receipt of it at the 1851 Exhibition. The text is a translation from the 17th-century Chinese silk panel, backed with velvet, which Thoms had acquired in February of 1851 in England. Eight feet long and six feet wide, the panel was covered in Chinese characters, woven in gold thread. He exhibited it later that year at Crystal Palace. We have been unable to trace the silk panel after 1851. Peter Perring Thoms worked first as jobbing printer in London; the East India Company employed him around 1814 and sent him to Macao to assist Robert Morrison in the production of his landmark Chinese dictionary. Thoms remained in Macao until 1825, when he returned to London, and took premises at 12 Warwick Square, which he retained until his death. Henry Bohn (1796-1884), son of a German émigré to London, was one of the foremost publishers and booksellers in 19th-century Britain. Cordier BS 695; Löwendahl 1122. We locate a single copy of the broadside at Kent State University.
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Details
- Bookseller
- John Randall (Books of Asia) (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 32907
- Title
- A Dissertation on the ancient Chinese vases of the Shang Dynasty, from 1743 to 1496, B.C. Illustrated with forty-two Chinese wood engravings.
- Author
- Thoms, Peter Perring
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- published and printed by the author at 12 Warwick Square and sold by James Gilbert, bookseller.
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1851
- Bookseller catalogs
- China; Far East; Art;
- Note
- May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.
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About the Seller
John Randall (Books of Asia)
Biblio member since 2018
Rye, East Sussex
About John Randall (Books of Asia)
John Randall has been selling rare and scholarly books on Asia since 1978. We hold more than 30,000 titles warehoused in East Sussex.We issue regular email catalogues in our Orientalia series on India & Pakistan, the Islamic World, Southeast Asia, China, Central Asia, and Ceylon.If you would like to receive any or all of these catalogues please confirm your interest by email.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Folio
- A folio usually indicates a large book size of 15" in height or larger when used in the context of a book description. Further,...
- Tail
- The heel of the spine.
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...