DU BOSE, Hampden Coit.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

"Beautiful Soo": A Handbook to Soochow. Second edition, revised from the first of 1888 with a larger map and new plates, of this guide to the "Venice of the Orient". The author (1845-1910) served as a missionary in Suzhou for 38 years until his death. In June 1896, he founded the Anti-Opium League, which successfully campaigned for the prohibition of the Chinese opium trade.A new edition was necessitated by the city's rapid development in the late 19th century, including the construction of a railway station (pictured in the frontispiece). "The immense hoards of silver within the walls seeking investment, the magic sound in a Chinese ear of the name Soochow, the widespread belief that now the provincial capital is to attain its former commercial importance, its position in the centre of the silk district, the influx of population from the surrounding country, the opening of several large cotton and silk factories, its being the centre of the Shanghai, Hangchow and Nanking Railway system, give promise of a most successful future to this city" (p. 80).

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