RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f 2 flourished between 1858 and 1948 was more fortunate because it was able to draw on the services of a far wider group of people who came to work in China in the years after travel and residence there was no longer restricted. The present Society is luckier still because, thanks to air travel, we have been able to draw on an extremely wide range of contributors in the first two volumes of the Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. When examining the table of contents of the six volumes of Transactions published in Hong Kong between 1847 and 1859, one sees the titles of several articles which it would be most interesting to read if copies of these volumes were available in Hong Kong. For example, in Volume III Harry Parkes, at that time British Consul in Canton, and later British Minister at Peking, described proceedings in a criminal Court at Canton, while Dr. Bowring contributed an article “On the Character and Writings of Commissioner Lin Tsih-seu”, which at that time (1851) was still very recent history. In Volume VI (1859) Dr. D. J. Macgowan wrote on Chinese opium while the Rev. Krone contributed “A notice of the Sanon district *”. This is of particular interest since the Sanon district included all of what later became the New Territories. The full list of contents of each of these volumes can be found in Bibliotheca Sinica by Henri Cordier, Volume IV, columns 2401-2. 44 By way of contrast it is interesting to consider the contents of the first two volumes of the Journal of the revived Hong Kong Branch of the R.A.S. published in 1961 and 1962. Perhaps the first point which strikes one is the wider range of subject matter covered by these two volumes. In Volume I, Mr. Hugh Richardson, the last head of the British mission at Lhasa wrote on Tibet as it was, and Professor Drake reviewed the whole field of Western contacts with Asia. In Volume II Mr. Evan Luard's newly published book Britain and China, which covers the story of recent Sino-British relations, is the subject of a review-article by Mrs. Colina Lupton. Another noteworthy point is the number of admirable contributions from Chinese scholars in these two volumes. The six volumes of Transactions published between * Although I have made extensive enquiries I have been unable to locate copies of the Transactions in Hong Kong. The City Hall Library ought to have a set. (Ed.) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v 72 J. L. CRANMER-BYNG China hand' of great experience, and a man of forceful character, Sir Harry Parkes. His daughter, Marion, had accompanied him to Peking and in a letter to a friend wrote of the Minister's house: How can I describe the house to you? It is so utterly unlike anything we have seen or lived in before. It really was originally a series of Chinese temples, and has been adapted for the use of Europeans by having odd little rooms built on, at odd and inconvenient corners. The entrance is very fine: first come two courts, with handsome red pillars; the carving and painting of the roofs is very picturesque and the colouring really beautiful. From the court you mount a flight of steps, and enter the hall, or Queen's room as it is called - her picture being there. 車 The grounds here are small but very nice; each person has his little home, and it reminds me much of a cathedral close; it is very peaceful and quiet. + 16 In the following year Parkes had to part with his daughter Marion when she was married in the Legation Chapel to James Keswick, a partner in the firm of Jardine, Matheson and Company, and at that time Chairman of the Municipal Council of Shanghai. In the Spring of 1885 Parkes was unwell and he died after a short illness, the only British Minister to die in harness in Peking. He drove himself too hard and died of overwork. The life of a student-interpreter at this time has been well described in a book called Where Chineses Drive,16 which was published in 1885, the title being taken from Paradise Lost, Book III. The author, W. H. Wilkinson, described the Legation as having a frontage along the Imperial canal of about three hundred yards, and continued: The compound forms an oblong of which the shorter side is about one hundred and thirty yards long. On the north it is shut in by the Han-lin College; on the west for the greater part of its length by the Lüan-i K'u, or as we call it, the "Imperial Carriage Park”. South of this, still on 15 Quoted in Lane-Poole, op. cit., II, 368-9. 16 "Where Chineses Drive". English Student-Life at Peking. By a Student Interpreter. (London, 1885). The name of the author does not appear on the book but Henri Cordier, Bibliotheca Sinica, I, 217, attributes it to W. H. Wilkinson. I ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 222 J.H. HAAN TYERS, Richard R. 1860-1861 Employed by King & Co., 1855,217 Trustee Chinese Hospital 1865.218 Member Committee VI and VII. VACHER, William Herbert 1855-1856 219 220 Lived from 1844 in Canton,221 later Shanghai where he was authorized to sign for Gilman, Bowman & Co. from August 9, 1851;222 interest ceased July 2, 1860.223 Member Committee to study the erection of a new building for the Shanghai Library, 1852.224 Member Committee II. WETMORE, William Shephard 1853-1854, 1855-1856, 1861-1862 225 Partner in Wetmore & Co., from September 1, 1852,226 as from May 29, 1857 Wetmore, Williams & Co. Member of the NCBRAS till 1882.227 He still lived in Shanghai in 1890 as partner in Frazar & Co.228 Author. 229 WHITLOW, James 1860-1861 Authorized to sign for Holliday, Wise & Co. from March 13, 1856;230 partner January 1, 1863.231 WIETERS, August 1863-1864 232 Authorized to sign for the German firm of Harkort & Co. from November 23, 1861.233 Source Notes Abbreviations: BS: Bibliotheca Sinica (by Henri Cordier) CK: Chinese Repository JNCBRAS: Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society NCDHL: North China Desk Hong List ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 187 Municipal Council, 718 volumes and pamphlets were purchased from Wylie for Tls 1,767.50 to form the nucleus of the society's library. The Shanghai Municipal Council stipulated that the society would be responsible for providing “suitable rooms and a librarian”, and should they fail to do so, the books would be given to another organization. O. R. Crockett was appointed the "honorary librarian" in 1864, the first of at least twenty-eight people to hold this office. Over the years they represented at least four nations, England, the United States, Germany, and France. The third librarian, the American-born Frenchman Henri Cordier who compiled the monumental Bibliotheca Sinica, was the real founding father of the library. Unlike many members of the society, Cordier was a young man newly arrived in China, and full of both curiosity and energy. He immediately struck up a friendship with Wylie and was instrumental in the transfer of his books to the library. His first task for the society was to compile a catalogue of its recently assembled collection. As he recalled later: On the first of April, 1871, Mr. Ney Ellis, then a merchant, took me to the library, which was indeed in a most dilapidated state in a large room of the Commercial Bank Building... I began at once the Catalogue of the books, which was published the next year (1872) at the Ching-Foong General Printing Office. This catalogue showed 1,300 titles in Western languages, arranged according to Klaproth's classification, "at least in its principal divisions", with Wylie's books noted with asterisks. Not catalogued were an additional 1,023 volumes in Chinese, mostly from Wylie, and the **Transactions of Learned Societies and Periodical Publications, which form one of the most important classes of the Library**. Cordier noted in the preface: However valuable this collection may be, its deficiency is very great; and many a volume which an Orientalist ought to find is sought in vain through the pages of the Catalogue. Now that the paucity of our resources is known, no doubt people will come forward and help us fill the blanks. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h # BIBLIOGRAPHY 245 1. Archives: "London Missionary Society": Incoming Letters, Central China. 2. Newspapers and Periodicals: **Boletim do Governo de Macao**, Macao, 1855-1865. "China Mail", Hong Kong, 1845-1860. "North China Herald", Shanghai, 1850-1867. "Puck, or the Shanghai Charivari", Shanghai, 1871-1873. *Shanghai Commercial Record*, Shanghai, 1865. 3. Books and Articles: Adams, W. Davenport: "A Dictionary of the Drama. A Guide to the Plays, Playwrights, Players and Playhouses of the United Kingdom and America from the earliest times to the present", Vol. I (A-G) (no more published). Philadelphia, 1904. Appleton, William W.: "Madame Vestris and the London Stage", New York - London, 1974. Barr, Pat: "The Deer Cry Pavillion. A Story of Westerners in Japan 1868-1905", London, 1968. Black, J.R.: "Young Japan. Yokohama and Yedo. A Narrative of the Settlement and the city from the signing of the treaties in 1858 to the close of the year 1879", Tokyo-London, 1968 (reprint of 1880-1881 edition). Boase, Frederic: "Modern English Biography", London, 1965 (reprint of the 1891-1921 edition). Booth, Michael (Ed): "English Plays of the 19th century", Volumes I and IV, Oxford, 1969-1973. British Museum General Catalogue of Books. Brown, T. Allston: "A History of the New York Stage from the first performance in 1732 to 1901, 3 vols.; New York 1964 (reprint of 1903 ed.). Buckley, C.B.: "An Anecdotal History of Old Times in Singapore 1819-1867, Singapore, 1902. Carse, A.: "The Life of Jullien", Cambridge, 1951. Chesterfield, Lord: "Advice to his son on Men & Manners in which the principles of politeness and the art of acquiring a knowledge of the world are laid down in an easy and familiar manner", Chiswick, 1826. Conolly, L.W. and J.P. Wearing: "English Drama and Theatre 1800-1900. A Guide to information sources", Detroit, 1978. Cordier, Henri: "Bibliotheca Sinica", second edition; 5 vols.; Paris 1904ff. Davis, Jim (Ed.): "Plays of H.J. Byron", Cambridge, 1984. 'Dictionary of National Biography". Dyce, C.M.: "Personal Reminiscences of Thirty Years' Residence in the Model Settlement. Shanghai 1870-1900", London, 1906. Engle, Gary D.: "This Grotesque Essence. Plays from the American Minstrel Stage". Baton Rouge, 1978. Fétis, F.J.: "Biographic Universelle de Musiciens", Paris, 1864; Supplement by Arthur Pougin, 1880. Fitzgerald, Percy: "Principles of Comedy and Dramatic Effect", London, 1870. "The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians", London, 1980. Haan, J.H.: "Origin and Development of the Political System in the Shanghai International Settlement" in: "Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of Royal Asiatic Society", Vol. 22 (1982), p. 31-64. Haan, J.H.: "The Shanghai Library: A history of the first foreign library in Shanghai" in: "Journal of the Hong Kong Library Association", 1987. Hartnoll, Phyllis: "The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre", London, 1972. Howard, Diana: "London Theatres and Music Halls, 1850-1950", London, 1970. Page 270 Page 271 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 177 ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY HONG KONG BRANCH POSSESSIONS ON PERMANENT LOAN TO OTHER INSTITUTIONS DAN WATERS In addition to our Branch's Library, which is on permanent loan to the Urban Council and is at present situated on the ninth floor at the City Hall, the following are in the safe custody of other institutions: (1) Held by Hong Kong University, Hong Kong Collection, Main Library (a) McMullen, M.A. Collection of 38 bills of lading relating to shipments to Canton, Macao, Lintin and Hong Kong during the period 1825-75. This collection, formed by Rear Admiral McMullen, was obtained through the kind offices of Past President Dr J.R. Jones. For full details see RASHKB Journal, volume 13 (1973), pages 154-162. (b) Royal Asiatic Society, China Branch Transactions [parts 1-6, 1847-1859] in Hong Kong, printed at the Office of the 'China Mail' from 1848-1859. Six volumes illustrated, 20 1/2 centimetres. Microfilm 1 reel, 35 millimetres. Originally in University Library, Cambridge, class-mark P624.c.21.1-2. A contents list of the Transactions is in Cordier, H. Bibliotheca Sinica second edition, Paris, 1904-24, volume 4, columns 2401-2. (c) It has not been possible to trace the microfilm extracted from the Journal of occurrences at Canton during the cessation of trade in 1839. This has, however, been published in volume 4 (1964) in the RASHKB Journal pages 9 to 41. This microfilm is listed on page 83 of... ================================================================================