The Chinese Classical Work Commonly Called the Four Books.
Description
Octavo (215 x 135 mm). Contemporary black half sheep, spine lettered and tooled in gilt, comb marbled sides, edges sprinkled brown.
Note
First edition of the first direct translation into English of the Analects, inscribed by a leading American merchant in Canton on the front free endpaper, “H. H. Ladd Esq., from his very sincere Chas. W. King”. No copies have appeared at auction since 1974.
Charles William King (1809-1867) was a merchant who spent most of his career operating in East Asia. A partner in the firm Olyphant & Co., he was a strong opponent of the opium trade, arguing in 1838 that Western opium traders should not be afforded consular protection. Olyphant steadfastly refused to engage in the lucrative trade, but King was falsely imprisoned in Canton in early 1839 for dealing. During his imprisonment, he wrote a well-know attack on the trade, entitled Opium Crisis: A Letter Addressed to Charles Elliot, Esq., Chief Superintendent of the British Trade with China.
