Eighty Five Years of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps.

£3,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

A richly illustrated history of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps which was a multi-national force controlled by the Shanghai Municipal Council. It was founded in 1853 in response to the Small Sword Society uprising. By the 1930s it included a Jewish Company, a Portuguese Company, an Interpreters Company, a White Russian Company and (ironically) a Japanese Company - there is also a section relating to the ‘Sino-Japanese hostilities of 1937’. Most of the photographic illustrations feature portraits of officers and dignitaries as well as a large number of group-shots of the various military units as well as their facilities. The publication was sponsored by a number of local and international businesses (incl. Ford, General Motors, a number of banks, American Express, Asiatic Petroleum Co., the Auto Palace Company, Omega watches, and Sassoon Co.). This is the best monograph on the subject published in Shanghai. Rare in good condition. Only seven copies in OCLC.

• Year: 1938

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