[Tianjin/Tientsin, China]

RULES AND BYE-LAWS: TIENTSIN BRITISH MUNICIPAL LIBRARY [COVER TITLE]. [ASSOCIATION COPY BELONGING TO COMMUNITY LEADER LEO GERSHEVITCH]

Tientsin: No Publisher [The Library; printed by The Caxton Press, Ltd], 1931. Item #42261

1st edition. Original decorated printed paper wrappers, 12mo, 8 pages. Copy belonging to Leo Gershevitch, President of the Tientsin Jewish Hebrew Association, The Tientsin Zionist Organization, The Tientsin Jewish Union, the Tientsin Hebrew school, the Culture Club 'Kunst, ’ and other Jewish organizations in Tientsin, with his Yiddish stamp on cover. “The British Concession was the oldest foreign concession in Tientsin, dating from 1860. It was leased in perpetuity to the British Crown and occupied some 200 acres on the left bank of Pei Ho River. The seat of administration was at Gordon Hall, overseeing Victoria Park.A bustling commercial street cut through most of the foreign concessions, with a different name depending on which concession it cut through. In the British concession, it was known as Victoria Street, and it played host to numerous headquarters of international banks, as well as merchant houses” (Kennie Ting, 2014). Suffian Mansor notes that “The British informal empire in China is often mistakenly believed to have represented the British government's policies and views. The' second biggest Chinese treaty port, Tientsin, had a different point of view to that of China (mostly in treaty ports) and Westminster. Tientsin's British community's main interests lay either within the concession or in Tientsin's hinterlands. These interests included its people and property. In addition the British community was proud of the British empire's prestige. All these created a determination in the British community that any attempt to jeopardise their interests would be opposed. However, the situation in Tientsin was rather different to that of their counterparts in Shanghai. The limited power of the British Municipal Council meant that the British community had, reluctantly, to obey British liberal policy when faced with the rise of the antiimperialist movement m the mid-1920s” (“Tientsin and its hinterland in Anglo-Chinese relations, 1925-1937,” Bristol, 2009).A similar booklet for a Jewish organization in Tianjin–but more common –sold at auction in 2023 for $875 (with commission). SUBJECT(S): China -- Tientsin -- History -- Societies, etc. OCLC lists no copies anywhere. We could not locate a copy anywhere else using a google search. Perhaps a unique surviving example. Very faint stain to outer margin of cover, Very Good+ Condition. An outstanding copy, exceedingly rare (Holo2-160-13).

Price: $900.00