Peking the Beautiful by White, Herbert and Hu Shih - 1927

White, Herbert and Hu Shih

Peking the Beautiful

Shanghai, China: The Commercial Press, 1927. 1st. Edition. Folio. (33cm x 40cm, 13" x 15.5") 71 mounted photographic plates (tinted, sepia and 12 colored images), text illustrations and photographic frontispiece. Images are of many important monuments, buildings, shrines, palaces, pagodas, landscapes, sculptures, and Chinese people. Adjacent to each plate is a full page of text explaining the history and importance of that plate.

Also included is the original two part pictorial box that has protected the silk binding of this copy from fading. The cardboard box is sturdy but has some slight repairs with tape, and there is some slight scuffing from shelf wear. The text is tight and very clean, with no markings or inscriptions, the photographic plates are pristine. The beautiful original publisher's blue embroidered silk brocade binding is near flawless. The colors of the binding are still lavish and vibrant. All told this copy is near-fine to fine and the box is Very Good+

"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 - priceless in their age-old glory - 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." Herbert White.