VOLPICELLI, Eugenio Zanoni, as "Vladimir".

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The China-Japan War. First edition of this authoritative account of the 1894-5 conflict, compiled by a remarkable and enigmatic Italian polymath who served as a diplomatic envoy for the Guangxu Emperor. The half-title has the 1901 Weihaiwei ownership inscription of Captain Francis Douglas Farquhar, who served with the Chinese Regiment of Infantry in the aftermath of the Boxer Uprising.Born in Naples, Volpicelli (1856-1936) studied physics and mathematics, before turning his hand to Chinese. He travelled east in 1881, was appointed by the Qing court in 1885, and helped negotiate the Chinese army's withdrawal from Vietnam. From 1899 to 1919, Volpicelli served as the Italian consul-general in Hong Kong, Canton, and Macao. His other works include the first book on Chinese chess in a Western language, a translation of Dante, and research into linguistics and economics. Authorship of the present work has previously been attributed to John Foreman, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.Farquhar (1874-1915), who was killed on the Western Front at the rank of lieutenant-colonel, was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards in 1896 and served in the Boer War. He was awarded the DSO while in China.

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