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The Punishments of China, Illustrated [With] Album of Watercolors.

Mason, George H

Chinese Punishment in the British Imagination [Mason, George H. (1770-1851)]. The Punishments of China, Illustrated by Twenty-Two Engravings: With Explanations in English and French. London: Printed for William Miller by W. Bulmer and Co., 1801. [94] pp. With 22 hand-colored stipple engravings, first plate bound as frontispiece. Folio (14-1/2" x 10-1/4"). Contemporary paneled morocco, elaborate blind and gilt fillets to boards, gilt spine with raised bands and gilt title ("Costum China") to spine, gilt tooling to outer and inner board edges, edges of text block gilt. Light rubbing and a few small scuffs to boards, moderate rubbing to extremities, spine very lightly varnished, light wear to head of front joint and corners, which are bumped, front hinge just starting at head, armorial bookplate (of J.M. Sagar-Musgrave) to front pastedown. Light toning to interior, faint offsetting from plates, light foxing in a few places, faint stain to upper gutter of Plate V and following page not affecting image or text, Plates IV and XX affected by trimming at fore-edge with minor loss to images. [With] [Album of 12 Chinese Export Watercolors Depicting Punishments]. N.d., circa mid-nineteenth century. Twelve 6" x 9-3/4" watercolor (or gouache) drawings on pith paper with blue silk ribbon borders, mounted on contemporary untrimmed 8-1/4" x 12-1/2" sheet tipped onto 11" x 14" card. Light toning, occasional faint dampstaining and spotting to images and larger sheet, tears to pith paper affecting six of the images with minor loss, most very small with a larger tear to final image. Drawings housed in modern red morocco binder with gilt frames to boards, moderate rubbing to extremities, light fading to spine, light wear to spine ends and corners. Together two items. $3,000. * Punishments: first edition, six plates watermarked 1818. As trade with China increased, Chinese culture began to take hold of the British imagination. This was particularly true in cases where Chinese people and practices could be stereotyped or depicted as barbaric. Written by an East India Company soldier who traveled to Canton in 1789, Punishments of China depicts lurid scenes of torture and contrasts Chinese and Western customs. Export albums like ours were produced in the port cities of China for tourists in the late eighteenth and early.

Price: $3,000.00

Book number 74034