GULIK, Robert van. The Gibbon in China: An Essay in Chinese Animal Lore. Leiden: E. J. Brill. 1967.
4to. Publisher’s dark blue cloth lettered in gilt to upper board and spine; pp. [2], 123, with b&w frontispice and numerous b&w photographs and in text illustrations (photographically reproduced from Van Gulik’s typescript); a bright blue vinyl record in its original sleeve is housed in a pocket affixed to the rear pastedown; slight scuffing to rear board; otherwise a clean, sharp copy; near fine.
First edition of Van Gulik’s most idiosyncratic and engaging work of sinology.
Although Van Gulik published extensively on Chinese literature, law, music, and art, his fascination with gibbons stands out as his most unusual scholarly pursuit. The Gibbon in China traces the cultural, literary, and symbolic history of the animal from the earliest recorded references (c. 1500 BC) through to Van Gulik’s own firsthand observations.
Van Gulik not only studied gibbons but also kept them, and the book contains numerous photographs of his own animals. With characteristic charm, he notes their intelligence and suitability as pets, recounting that some were even capable of flushing the toilet.
The original bright blue vinyl record, entitled “The morning calls of a Hylobates agilis, female 3½ years old”, contains a recording of Van Gulik’s gibbon, Jinja. A remarkable hybrid of scholarship, personal observation, and multimedia documentation.
Evers, p. 20.
SKU: 2122649