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TWO YEARS IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY
by The Princess Der Ling
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Very Good
- Seller
-
Westport, Connecticut, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Dodd, Mead and Company. Very Good. 1929. Hardcover. Minor spotting to front boards. Front hinge weak; Nicely INSCRIBED in ink by the author on front free endpaper. This is partially a biography of the Empress Dowager Cixi. The author Der Ling was her first assistant. She wanted to set the record straight in regards of Cixi's reputation after her death; B&W Photographs; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 383 pages .
Synopsis
From the book:MY father and mother, Lord and Lady Yu Keng, and family, together with our suite consisting of the First Secretary, Second Secretary, Naval and Military Attaches, Chancellors, their families, servants, etc., - altogether fifty-five people, - arrived in Shanghai on January 2, 1903, on the S.S. "Annam" from Paris, where for four years my father had been Chinese Minister. Our arrival was anything but pleasant, as the rain came down in torrents, and we had the greatest difficulty getting our numerous retinue landed and safely housed, not to mention the tons of baggage that had to be looked after. We had found from previous experience that none of our Legation people or servants could be depended upon to do anything when travelling, in consequence of which the entire charge devolved upon my mother, who was without doubt the genius of the party in arranging matters and straightening out difficulties. When the launch from the steamer arrived at the jetty off the French Bund, we were met by the Shanghai Taotai (the highest official in the city), the Shanghai Magistrate and numerous other officials, all dressed in their official robes. The Taotai told my father that he had prepared the Tien Ho Gung (Temple of the Queen of Heaven) for us to reside in during our stay in Shanghai, but my father refused the offer, saying that he had telegraphed from Hong Kong and made all arrangements to go to the Hotel des Colonies in the French Concession. We had had previous experience staying in this temple while on our way to Japan, where my father went as Minister in 1895, and did not care to try it a second time. The building is very old and very much out of repair. It was a beautiful place in its prime, but had been allowed to go to rack and ruin. The custom is that the magistrate has to find a place and supply the food, etc., for high officials when passing through, and it is not exactly the thing to refuse their kind offer, but my father was always very independent and politely declined all proffers of assistance.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Complete Traveller Antiquarian Bookstore
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 18952
- Title
- TWO YEARS IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY
- Author
- The Princess Der Ling
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Publisher
- Dodd, Mead and Company
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1929
- Bookseller catalogs
- China;
Terms of Sale
Complete Traveller Antiquarian Bookstore
Orders are processed within 3 business days (and most of the time much faster). Domestic Shipping: Standard orders are shipped via USPS Media Mail and can be expected within 2 weeks. Expedited shipping takes 3 - 4 days and is sent via USPS Priority or UPS, depending on your location. Express shipping will arrive within 1 - 2 days and will be shipped via UPS. International Shipping: Whenever possible orders will be sent via DHL for a fast and reliable experience and a quick customs clearance. All shipments can be expected to be delivered anywhere in the world within a week. On rare occasions VAT or a small custom fee is due. Heavier shipments will be sent by USPS or Pirateship, a shipping consolidator. Those packages are delivered within a month but sometimes it can take slightly longer.
About the Seller
Complete Traveller Antiquarian Bookstore
Biblio member since 2004
Westport, Connecticut
About Complete Traveller Antiquarian Bookstore
The Complete Traveller Antiquarian Bookstore grew out of The Complete Traveller Bookstore, the first travel bookstore in the United States. Owners Harriet and Arnold Greenberg were (and are) travel writers and Arnold, a life-long collector of antiquarian books. Many customers have combined their purchases of new guidebooks with editions of older classics. While the largest number of titles in the Antiquarian Bookstore are travel related, our collections include many first editions of fiction and literature, and even some unusual children's books. Those of you who have visited our store have seen one of the country's premier collections of authentic Baedekers. The small red-covered books are considered the first modern travel guides and are treasured for their great historic detail and fold out maps throughout. From the rare "Indien" to the prosaic "Central Italy," we have them all. We are proud of our rapidly expanding collection of rare titles dealing with the history, culture, peoples and communities of New York City and New York State. Other specialties include: The A&C Black Twenty Shilling series--books to far-flung destinations that are filled with scores of colorful illustrations. And, the state and city guides of the American Guide Series, a depression-era project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and written by many who later became renowned.
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