IN A PRESENTATION BINDING
[SHANGHAI.]
Shanghai of To-day. A Souvenir Album of fifty Vandyke Gravure Prints of “the Model Settlement”. Introduction by F. L. Hawks Pott, D. D.
Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore, Kelly and Walsh, 1930.
Large 4to, pp. [x], 12, [102], with 50 photogravures (largest 242 x 186 mm) in various hues, each tipped in within printed border on recto and captioned on verso of preceding leaf; a few minor smudges and closed tears within, none affecting the images; else a very good copy in contemporary burgundy sheep, panorama photograph laid on front cover, title and seal of the Shanghai International Settlement tooled in gilt to front cover; somewhat rubbed, spine worn with loss at head and tail; ownership inscriptions of A. H. Bain (‘Shanghai 4th June 1932’), Charles McLeod Bain, and Daphne Hutchinson to front free endpaper (see below).
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Shanghai of To-day. A Souvenir Album of fifty Vandyke Gravure Prints of “the Model Settlement”. Introduction by F. L. Hawks Pott, D. D.
Third edition, revised and enlarged (first 1927 with only thirty-eight plates), of this photobook showing the landmarks of Shanghai, our copy in a deluxe binding (likely for presentation) and with contemporary Shanghai provenance.
Illustrated here are most of the city’s well-known banks, clubs, hotels, trading houses, and other sights. The introduction, by the president of St John’s College, Shanghai (now St John’s University), gives a succinct local history and covers politics, industry, and land value.
Usually bound in publisher’s cloth-backed drab boards, the book is here found in a deluxe purple binding with the seal of the Shanghai International Settlement, and was likely presented to or by a dignitary in the concession.
Provenance: Charles McLeod Bain, with his ownership inscription. Born in 1874 at Strathpeffer in the Scottish Highlands, Bain arrived in Shanghai at the turn of the century, pursuing a successful career in banking and property development. He was a prominent figure within the International Settlement, serving on the committees of the Lester Chinese (Renji) Hospital and of many other clubs and charities as well as on the Shanghai Municipal Council (the settlement’s governing body).
