The New Atlas and Commercial Gazetteer of China. A Work Devoted to Its Geography & Resources and Economic & Commercial Development by Dingle, Edwin John

Shanghai: North-China Daily News & Herald. Hardcover. Very good. Compiled and translated from the latest and most authoritative surveys and records by the staff of the Far Eastern Geographical Establishment." Second edition, undated, but 1917 or 1918. Large folio, 21.25 x 15.25 inches, pp [12], xi, [1], 88, 187, xxxiii, [18], with index, 25 attractive colored maps in English and Chinese, and many colored charts and graphs. Original embossed black cloth with beveled edges and gilt titles. Some chipping the the cloth at the spine ends and on raised bands, corners rubbed through, but a very good copy, internally sound and clean. A fascinating and comprehensive reference, providing extensive statistics on all aspects of Chinese manufacturing, industry, agricultural production, natural resources and trade (imports and exports, broken down by province and city), as well short write-ups on the history and principal commodities of dozens of cities, and on the climate, geography, and mineral resources of China as a whole. There is a lengthy and most interesting list of "Commodities of the World's Commerce Compilied with Special Reference to China," that provides information on the sources and uses of such items as buffalo horns, coprolites, dragon's blood, Ignatius beans, kukui oil, mangrove bark, sea slugs, and silkworm gut. A list of public companies in China (detailing their capital, profits, etc.) is included as an appendix, and this is followed by 39 pages of ads for manufacturers, shipbuilders and shipping lines, insurance companies, banks, and import/export firms. The author was an English journalist and fellow of the Royal Geographical Society who lived in Asia for nearly two decades, traveling in China, India, Tibet, and Burma. In 1920, this book was advertised as "the only work of the kind every produced for and about China." Other works of this nature have undoubtedly been produced in the ensuing century, but it is hard to imagine any could be as impressive a production as this one.