Chinese Chapters from the Book of the Stanley Club.. Cet article n’est pas disponible.Chinese Chapters from the Book of the Stanley Club.

First edition, first printing, with the bookplate of one of the editors, Alice Mary Payne. A club veteran, Payne joined in its second year and continued to reside in Tianjin in the 1930s. Below the bookplate is an inscription, possibly in Payne's hand: "From Alice Mary Payne, 12th April 1937". The Stanley Club was founded in Tianjin in 1903 as a forum for intellectual exchange and named after its first president, Ursula Johnson Stanley (d. 1908), one of the first American missionaries based in northern China. In 1907, it capped its membership at 25 women drawn equally from the British and American expatriate community. By 1935, the club counted 167 women among its past and present members. The volume ends with a comprehensive list of these individuals, including their name, years of participation, and current address where applicable. The topics discussed by the articles include, for example, Chinese humour and proverbs, poetry, jade, tea culture, and Buddhism. Payne (née Bryson, 1884-1973) was brought up in China as the daughter of missionaries. In 1907, she married Howard Payne, a merchant and the director of the Taku Tug and Lighter Company. The family papers, including a large collection of photographs curated by Alice Payne, is part of the British Empire & Commonwealth Collection. Small quarto. Original drab boards, green diagonal-grain cloth backstrip, front cover lettered in green. Middle name of Alice Payne struck through at end of preface. Spine creased, boards lightly soiled, tips bumped, top edge dust-soiled: a very good copy. …