WATSON, Ernest.

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The Principal Articles of Chinese Commerce (Import and Export). Second edition, first printing, of this guide to Republican China's commodity trade, written by a long-standing British employee of the customs service. This exhaustive text, embellished with illustrations and Chinese translations of key terms, includes sections on fibres (silk, cotton, and animal hair), oils, fats, waxes, dyes, colours, pigments, paints tans, metals, "miscellaneous products" (everything from bricks to Panama hats), and, of course, opium.The Chinese Maritime Customs Service was founded in 1854 by Britain and other foreign powers to collect taxes on maritime trade for the Chinese government, but its remit quickly expanded to include domestic customs administration, the postal service, waterway and harbour management, and meteorology. These areas of responsibility inevitably overlapped with diplomatic and political concerns, making the service one of the most powerful bureaucratic entities in the country.To assist staff with their levying duties, the service published a number of handbooks written by expert employees, including the present work first published in 1923. The compiler, Ernest Watson, joined the service in 1901 and retired with the rank of Chief Appraiser in 1929. After retiring, Watson was nonetheless contracted as a Tariff Expert for a further three years, allowing him to prepare this second edition.

• Printing: first

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