Picturesque Representations of Dress and Manners of the Chinese

Alexander, William.

Picture Representations of the Dress and Manners of the Chinese. With 3 loosely inserted drawings by Alexander and signed (see photo).

John Murray, by W. Bulmer and Co. London, 1814, small 4to.Contemporary ¾ dark red crushed morocco elaborately tooled in gilt, marbled boards with publisher's title and price label on upper board. Aquatint frontispiece. "50coloured engravings with descriptions".

An illustrated volume by the artist William Alexander (1767-1816). He describes and illustrates the various Chinese occupations, entertainments, religious practices, military, street scenes, tradesmen, forms of punishments, and members of the upperclass, while also describing specific people he had encountered during the Macartney Embassy. He was a junior draftsman who did many drawings while on the Macartney expedition to China seeking trade agreements for Great Britain.

The morocco binding is very good with the gilt lettering and tooling showing no wear. The original marbled covers are scuffed and the title plate on the upper board is worn, but no loss of printing. The text is very clean with no spotting, browning, or markings of any kind. The text is very tight and is untrimmed and somewhat cockled on the edges. The 3 additional drawings are loosely inserted and are signed on the obverse by Alexander. They are similar to the plates in the book.