First edition.8 lithograph plates after sketches. 8vo. Contemporary half cloth, marbled boards. Title-page clipped above title (repaired), final page clipped at bottom, slightly shaken, but overall still a very good copy. [ii], 48pp. Shanghai, Printed at the “Celestial Empire” Office, 1884.
First-hand account of the war between French and Chinese naval forces following the collapse of the Tientsin accord of May 1884. Sino-French relations soured when Chinese troops attacked French forces in Tonkin (Northern Vietnam) on 23 June 1884, in violation of the treaty. In August 1884, France launched naval attacks on Tonkin, targeting Chinese-held positions, whichThe Nation described as marked by “gross cruelty and fraud,” including the bombardment of towns and execution of prisoners.
Ironically the French proceeded to attack the Mawei naval shipyard which had been built by them in 1867 as part of the Self-Strengthening Movement for the Qing Dynasty. The eight plates focus on the destruction wrought by French weapons and show several Chinese ships before and after they were sunk. The final sketch is of a dog that drowned while trying to escape from the Yang-woo, the Chinese flagship. Uncommon. Only this copy has sold at auction in the past 50 years. Cordier 2500.
