Roving Through Southern China

New York: The Century Co, 1925. First Edition (presumed; no prior editions or printings cited). Octavo with green cloth boards and black stamping; xxi, 649 pages; frontispiece; plates; folded map (in color) 23 cm Very good (-); pages are clean and binding solid; ex libris sticker on front pastedown and bookshop sticker on rear pastedown; some mild rubbing to edges and corners and stain to upper edge that extends only into upper margin. See photos. Hardcover.

Harry A. Franck was a travel writer renowned for his frugal methods and intimate encounters, whose books intimately recorded life as it was lived in the societies he visited, at a time when many of them were changing rapidly under the influence of industrialization. His account of a visit to Southern China is chock full of photographs and written in a casual style. A remarkable historical/anthropological document that captures the people and landscapes of Southern China as they were in the early years of the 20th century. ¶ Heavily illustrated with b&w photoplates. ¶ Contents: Shanghai by the back door. The first circle inland. Up the lower Yang Tze. Flagstone trails in August. Kingtehchen, the China-town of China. Overland to Fukien. Down the Min to Foochow. Loafing along the southern coast. A short winter in the "southern capital". Canton under Sun Yat-sen. Politics and soldiery. Sze Yap, the home of our own Chinese. "South of the sea" to Hainan. Down the West River through Kwangsi. Some general aspects of Chinese life. Up to Yünnanfu. A journey under "military protection". Toilsome trails of the southwest. Among China's unabsorbed tribes. On to the Yang Tze Kiang. Szechuan trails in midsummer. Chengtu and beyond. To the summit of sacred Omeishan. Musings from a holy mountain-top. Homeward down the upper Yang Tze. Across country to Canton.¶ **Somewhat heavy item. Additional shipping fees may be needed for expedited or international orders. Please inquire**