Chinatown Stories in a 1900 Dust Jacket
Shadow of Quong Lung
Publication: Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1900. Second Edition.
Notes: Five short stories set in San Francisco's Chinatown. The title story is about Chinese slave girls. One story appeared in the San Francisco Examiner, another in the Argonaut, where it won a Christmas story prize. In the introduction, the author offers the opinion that "of course, the best thing to do with Chinatown would be to burn it down."
The dialogue is pidgen English (velly dlenk for very drunk), when Chinese people are speaking English and weirdly formal language, when the author renders the Chinese language into English, "Tis time, then, to drink more tchah ere we set foot in the Flowery Land."
This second edition (stated on the title page) is bound in plain yellow cloth whereas the first edition has decorative covers. [2 blank] 267 [5 blank] pages.
Edition + Condition: Top-edge gilt. This is a scarce example with the original dust jacket, printed on the spine and front panel with the design of the decorative cloth of the first edition. There are a few tape repairs on the back (verso) of the jacket and minor loss to the edges.
Item No: #363643
Price: $300