First and only edition. Numerous illustrations and photographic plates, incl. four chromo-lithographic plates. Oblong folio. Bound in faux crocodile skin cover with embroidered emblem of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps on the top board. Minor damage to tail-caps, but overall in very good condition. a.e.g. [8], 282pp. with numerous 4pp. adverts interspersed in the publication throughout. Shanghai, Cosmopolitan Press, 1938.
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.
