Details
MESNY, William, editor (1842-1919). Mesny’s Chinese miscellany [Volume 1, No. 1 – No. 26; Volume 2, No. 6 – No. 26]. Shanghai: W. Mesny, 1895 [-1896]
2 volumes, 4° (274 x 210 mm). Bound in contemporary half roan. Provenance: E. Shing, printer, book binder & stationer, Canton, China (bookseller’s label on pastedowns).
FIRST EDITION. Issued weekly, Volume 1, No. 1 is dated September 26th, 1895; No. 26 is dated March 19th, 1896. Volume 2, No. 6 is dated April 30th, 1896; and No. 26 is dated September 17th, 1896. Publication was suspended September 1896 and began again in March 1899.
William Mesny (1842-1919) was born in the Vingtaine of La Croiserie, Trinity. At eleven years of age he sailed around the world and jumped ship in China. He eventually raised a small group of mercenaries in the service of the emperor and became successful in the arms trade. He later joined the Chinese army and rose to the level of General. He became a member of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Historical Society. Approximately 58 of his 78 years were spent in China. He spent most of the 1890's in Shanghai, where he periodically published in his later life a sort of weekly newspaper or journal in Shanghai called Mesny's Chinese Miscellany. Publication began in September 1895, and continued through 1896, was revived briefly in 1899 and again in 1905. It was composed of his reminiscences of his life and adventures, snippets of recent news, and thousands of brief articles and notes on a very wide variety of topics relating to China. Mesny also strongly promoted railways and other methods of "modernizing" China. VERY RARE: no copies have appeared on the market according to online databases. Cordier Sinica I, 104.
2 volumes, 4° (274 x 210 mm). Bound in contemporary half roan. Provenance: E. Shing, printer, book binder & stationer, Canton, China (bookseller’s label on pastedowns).
FIRST EDITION. Issued weekly, Volume 1, No. 1 is dated September 26th, 1895; No. 26 is dated March 19th, 1896. Volume 2, No. 6 is dated April 30th, 1896; and No. 26 is dated September 17th, 1896. Publication was suspended September 1896 and began again in March 1899.
William Mesny (1842-1919) was born in the Vingtaine of La Croiserie, Trinity. At eleven years of age he sailed around the world and jumped ship in China. He eventually raised a small group of mercenaries in the service of the emperor and became successful in the arms trade. He later joined the Chinese army and rose to the level of General. He became a member of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Historical Society. Approximately 58 of his 78 years were spent in China. He spent most of the 1890's in Shanghai, where he periodically published in his later life a sort of weekly newspaper or journal in Shanghai called Mesny's Chinese Miscellany. Publication began in September 1895, and continued through 1896, was revived briefly in 1899 and again in 1905. It was composed of his reminiscences of his life and adventures, snippets of recent news, and thousands of brief articles and notes on a very wide variety of topics relating to China. Mesny also strongly promoted railways and other methods of "modernizing" China. VERY RARE: no copies have appeared on the market according to online databases. Cordier Sinica I, 104.