Historic Macao. Jesus, Carlos Augusto Montalto De.

First edition, first printing. Well-reviewed at the time but slow to sell, this is now a rare and valuable addition to any China library, especially in a contemporary binding. This copy is signed on the half-title and title page by José Wilde Loureiro, a Portuguese employee of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service who was based in Kowloon, Ningpo, and then Nanjing. The author (1863-1927) was a polyglot, born in Hong Kong, who also published a historical narrative of Shanghai (1909). Historic Macao ends with his view that the colony should be returned to Chinese control. For the 1926 revised edition, he changed his recommendation into a stinging attack on the Portuguese authorities and a proposal that the League of Nations assume responsibility for governing Macao. In response, copies of the second edition (including those already sold) were seized and burned; some copies of the first edition were likely swept up in the conflagration. Loureiro (c.1869-1929) joined the customs service in 1888 and spent the next four decades in China. He retired in 1927 at the rank of commissioner. Cordier 2326. Octavo (212 x 135 mm). Contemporary purple half roan, neatly rebacked with original spine laid down, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, green moiré cloth sides. With lithographed frontispiece and 11 similar plates, map of Macao. Recent Japanese bookseller's ticket on front pastedown. Binding presenting nicely, extremities a little rubbed and worn, contents evenly toned and clean. A very good copy.