China. 3 manuscripts from the same source,... - Lot 230 - Conan Belleville Hôtel d'Ainay

China. 3 manuscripts from the same source, mid-19th century, by an anonymous hand. - Rapport de la traversée du Shanghaï de Chefou à Woosung" (4 pp. in-8). "We left on January 17th at 02:00 hrs, we found a SE breeze until the next evening, a leak in the starboard boiler forced us to slow down the speed until 09:00 hrs. in the evening []". - Draft of a letter to a newspaper: "I have the honour to point out to you a fact that might be an eye-opener in your diary: 'Lately I was in Tientsin; passing on the beach I saw a modified propeller on a Russian gunboat moored at the quayside...' (4 pp. in-8). - In the same hand, manuscript of 16 pp. in-8 (draft with corrections), on 4 double leaves numbered 2 to 5 (incomplete from the beginning), describing landscapes of China, customs and obligations of Chinese women, and dwelling at some length on literary examinations in China. Near the mouth of the Pei-Ho is Ta-Ku, a small town only remarkable for the English plenipotentiaries' interview with the Chinese in 1840, but the village closest to the sea is Tung-Ku, near which up the river is Siku, remarkable for a pagoda that dominates the surrounding terrain by a few cubits []. There are four degrees in literary examinations. The first grade that one arrives at is called sin-tsa or (talent in bloom) because of the promise it seems to give of the student's future success. The exams are held annually in the district capital in a school built for this purpose alone. They are supervised by the chihien assisted by a public education officer named hioching and a corrector named kian-yu []".