Several folding maps. Three vols. 8vo, orig. printed wrappers. Beijing: Zhonghua yin zi guan 中華印字館, 1930-31.

First edition of this uncommon book on the local history of Beijing. Chen Zongfan (1879-1954), after his studies, moved to Beijing where he worked in various agencies of the city administration. He bought a plot of land by Andingmen and erected a property (and rented rooms to professors at the nearby university, including the towering intellectual figure Fu Sinian 傅斯年 [1896-1950]). Chen took a great interest in his adopted city, which in this post-imperial period was undergoing radical change. In 1927, Chen... More