Ten Thousand Things Relating to: China & The Chinese, an Epitome of the Genius, Government, History, Literature, Agriculture, Arts, Trade, Manners, Customs and Social Life of the People of The Celestial Empire together with a Synopsis of the "Chinese Collection, Hyde Park Corner" by William B. Langdon, Curator of the Chinese Collection Second Edition illustrated by Numerous Engravings. Sold only at the Collection, Hyde Park Corner, London, 1843. Revised Edition (also called Second Edition) in Green Morocco with all edges gilt. With fine fold out of the Apartment of a Chinese Nobleman. Quarto size.Note: In 1842, after financial troubles, Nathan Dunn moved the Chinese collection from Philadelphia to London, where it was housed in a pagoda-like exhibition hall at Hyde Park Corner. Queen Victoria was its first visitor at the June opening. The collection was equally popular in London, as it was in Philadelphia. Harvard Library owns another copy of this 1843 revised catalog which provides history, background, and a complete list of the exhibits. The collection could be considered a forerunner to museum period rooms, with recreated shops and interiors encompassing all of Chinese society, from mandarins, priests, barbers, shoemakers, soldiers, merchants, and beggars.
Condition
Spine replaced, keeping the original front & back covers in gilt green Morocco, end papers replaced with old marble paper; bumping to corners of cover, a few pages loose, a few pages with chipped edges in margins not affecting plates or text.