GULIK, Robert van (author and illustrator). The Lacquer Screen: A Chinese Detective Story. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. [1969.]
8vo. Publisher’s yellow cloth, lettered in red to spine with gilt illustration to upper board, illustrated dust jacket with printed price of $3.95 to front flap, illustrated endpapers depicting the four seasons; pp. vii, [1 (blank)], 180, [4], with 10 illustrations by the author; light wear to jacket edges, slight pushing to spine tips; near fine.
First US edition of the sixth Judge Dee novel, originally published in 1962 by Art Printing Works, Kuala Lumpur.
Following the traditional Chinese detective structure, Judge Dee must unravel three mysteries. To assist him, he forms an alliance with the local magistrate Chiao Tai, and together they infiltrate the criminal underworld of Wei-ping, remaining incognito among the gangsters for two tense days and nights.
Judge Dee is based on the seventh-century Tang Dynasty magistrate, Di Renjie. Van Gulik first became interested in this historical figure when he translated Dee Goong An in 1949, and he continued to feature Judge Dee throughout his original crime fiction series (1949-1967). A Dutch diplomat and sinologist, Van Gulik incorporated his research into his fiction and also illustrated his novels; this book contains ten of his distinctive woodblock-style illustrations.
Not in Evers.
SKU: 2124231