Manuscripts on paper.
27 folding leaves. Two vols. 4to, 304 x 228 mm., original paper stitching with evidence of additional stitching removed. [China]: [late Qing period].
Two very rare examples of Manchu household registries for companies of the Eight Banners. “The ‘Eight Banners’ is the name for the Manchu-led army that helped bring the Qing ruling house to power in 1644. Memberships in the Eight Banners were not limited to soldiers, however, but included families and dependents within what became a highly militarized social system...The Qing court sought to guard membership as carefully as possible, and part of that effort included... More