Blanco alfredo e (2 Ergebnisse)

Rústica (Tapa blanda). Zustand: Bien. Sin cubierta. Materia: Historia militar. Características físicas: Prólogo de J. Iturrioz. Epílogo de J. M. García Escudero. El libro se encuentra en buen estado. Ubicación: R21B4-73. LIBRO.

First edition, first printing, with an attractive China provenance, of this customs handbook from the library of Charles Williams, a senior member of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service. Williams extensively annotated this copy while working for the Service's revenue department in China. The Chinese Maritime Customs Service was originally founded in 1854 to collect taxes on maritime trade for the Chinese government, and by the early 20th century it had become a bureaucratic powerhouse overseeing domestic customs administration, the postal service, waterway and harbour management, and meteorology. This manual was issued internally to help customs inspectors identify different types of fabric, often traded under a variety of names, and thereby levy correct duties. Charles Alfred Speed Williams entered the Service's revenue department in November 1903 at the junior level of Fourth Assistant. Service records note that he worked on the ground overseeing revenue collection, a task for which this handbook would have been invaluable. At the rear of this copy, he has filled in the provided tabular "index to sample collection" with the names and types of fabric samples retained at the trading station as an aid to customs inspectors. On alphabetised pages, he records dozens of materials, from "alpaca lining" to "woven check, printed cotton". Elsewhere in the manual, pencil highlighting and notes evidence the daily concerns of customs inspection: "what if the figure [i.e. the ornamentation] is of artificial silk? 5% [duty]? This fact is often overlooked" (p. 34). A long-time employee, in late 1935 Williams retired having served for 13 years at the senior grades of Deputy Commissioner and then Acting Commissioner at the Lungchow trading station. In 1969, he published his autobiographical Chinese Tribute which recounts his colourful experiences of working for the Service. The author of this work, Alfredo E. Blanco, was a Spaniard employed by the Customs Service as a Second Assistant. He first entered the Service in 1897 and stayed in China until 1922. After resigning his post, he worked for the League of Nations in its Social Questions and Opium Traffic Section, before becoming Director of the Anti-Opium Information Bureau and an outspoken advocate for the total prohibition of opium. Octavo. With 10 plates showing different fabric weaves. Original purple cloth, spine lettered in gilt, title blindstamped to front cover, boards ruled in blind. A little sunned and rubbed, light soiling to spine and front board, extremities a little worn, inner hinges starting, a little foxing to contents, else bright. A very good copy.…