Shanghai: City for Sale
Title
Shanghai: City for Sale
Creator
Ernest O. Hauser, book's author
Publisher
Shanghai: The Chinese-American Publishing Co.
Date
1940
Special Authorized Edition
Contributor
Katherine Owens researched and wrote the event description in 2018.
Description
For a description of the book, please click on the image of the event label/description or scroll to the bottom of the page for the section entitled "Text" for a transcription of the attached document.
Subject
History / Travel
Identifier
SPECIAL DS796 .S2 H3 1940
Language
English, book's contents
English, event description
English, event description
Relation
This book has another record in the "Beautiful Books" Lobby Display Collection.
To see this book on November 15, 2018 in the "Event Photographs" Collection, please go here [Photograph of Books] 05454 and here [Photograph of Books] IMG_0583.
To see this book on November 15, 2018 in the "Event Photographs" Collection, please go here [Photograph of Books] 05454 and here [Photograph of Books] IMG_0583.
Text
Transcript of event description:
SHANGHAI: CITY FOR SALE | ERNEST O. HAUSER | SHANGHAI: THE CHINESE-AMERICAN PUBLISHING CO. | 1940 | SPECIAL AUTHORIZED EDITION
At first glance, this book has nothing to recommend it for a display on beautiful books. However, this is the only book in Special Collections which was published, printed, and bound in China. As you can see, the front hinge area is wearing out, but carefully open and enjoy the map that is the endpapers. Using a map in place of either plain or marbled paper was popular in the 1940s to about 1951, and is known as the Mapback Cover style. Our source did not indicate if this style was popular around the world or just the U.S., so it can only be assumed that this American publishing company’s employees brought the design concept over to China with them. If you flip through the pages, please be aware that the acid deterioration from the wood pulp makes this paper particularly fragile and susceptible to tears when turning pages. Smell the book though and enjoy that “old book” smell inherent to wood pulp paper from the 19th and 20th centuries.
This book is one of 3,000 volumes donated by Mrs. Marifrances Engelhardt after Hurricane Matthew (2016) flooded her home. About 240 books are in Special Collections. During WWII she served in Spain in the diplomatic corps and married a well-known foreign correspondent, through whom she met Ernest Hemingway and Orson Wells. Sometime after her second marriage she settled in St. Augustine. When shown a book from her collection, despite her advanced years, she remembered who in her family owned it or gave it to her, and whether or not she enjoyed reading it. Mrs. Engelhardt died on April 18, 2017.
The original owner’s name, Daniel Pfeifer, who wrote the gift inscription, was the brother of Mrs. Engelhardt. He lived in the Far East as an English teacher for a number of years and this book, the Indian printed books, and Japanese printed books all came from him.
SHANGHAI: CITY FOR SALE | ERNEST O. HAUSER | SHANGHAI: THE CHINESE-AMERICAN PUBLISHING CO. | 1940 | SPECIAL AUTHORIZED EDITION
At first glance, this book has nothing to recommend it for a display on beautiful books. However, this is the only book in Special Collections which was published, printed, and bound in China. As you can see, the front hinge area is wearing out, but carefully open and enjoy the map that is the endpapers. Using a map in place of either plain or marbled paper was popular in the 1940s to about 1951, and is known as the Mapback Cover style. Our source did not indicate if this style was popular around the world or just the U.S., so it can only be assumed that this American publishing company’s employees brought the design concept over to China with them. If you flip through the pages, please be aware that the acid deterioration from the wood pulp makes this paper particularly fragile and susceptible to tears when turning pages. Smell the book though and enjoy that “old book” smell inherent to wood pulp paper from the 19th and 20th centuries.
This book is one of 3,000 volumes donated by Mrs. Marifrances Engelhardt after Hurricane Matthew (2016) flooded her home. About 240 books are in Special Collections. During WWII she served in Spain in the diplomatic corps and married a well-known foreign correspondent, through whom she met Ernest Hemingway and Orson Wells. Sometime after her second marriage she settled in St. Augustine. When shown a book from her collection, despite her advanced years, she remembered who in her family owned it or gave it to her, and whether or not she enjoyed reading it. Mrs. Engelhardt died on April 18, 2017.
The original owner’s name, Daniel Pfeifer, who wrote the gift inscription, was the brother of Mrs. Engelhardt. He lived in the Far East as an English teacher for a number of years and this book, the Indian printed books, and Japanese printed books all came from him.
Original Format
Book / Unpublished Print Document
Collection
Citation
Ernest O. Hauser, book's author, “Shanghai: City for Sale,” Beautiful Books in Flagler College's Special Collections, accessed April 29, 2024, https://beautifulbooks.omeka.net/items/show/102.