GILES, Herbert Allen.

£975 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Gems of Chinese Literature. Signed limited edition, number 172 of 700 copies signed by the author on the frontispiece. Revising the first of 1884, this second edition doubles the contents and adds biographical notes. The text covers material from the Zhou dynasty (6th century BCE) to the intellectual reformers of the late 19th century.Herbert Allen Giles (1845-1935), the professor of Chinese at Cambridge for 35 years, published almost 60 works on China between the 1870s and 1920s, introducing generations of intellectuals to East Asian history and culture. "His clearest contribution to Chinese studies was his ability through his writings to 'humanize' China for a Western audience. His clear and flowing style and his understanding of China meant, said one contemporary, that he was 'able to breathe life' into his subjects" (ODNB).

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