GULIK, Robert van (author and illustrator). The Lacquer Screen: A Chinese Detective Story. Kuala Lumpur: Art Printing Works. 1962.
8vo. Publisher’s illustrated soft card covers, illustrated endpapers depicting the seasons; pp. [8], 185, [3 (blank)], with 10 illustrations by the author; previous bookseller’s price in black pen to top-right corner of front cover, light spotting and toning to white back cover, bookseller’s stamp to half-title page; very good.
First edition of the sixth Judge Dee novel.
Following the traditional Chinese detective story structure, Judge Dee must solve three interwoven mysteries. Along with the local magistrate Chiao Tai, they infiltrate the criminal underworld of Wei-ping, remaining incognito among gangsters for two perilous days and nights.
Judge Dee is based on the seventh-century Tang Dynasty magistrate, Di Renjie. Van Gulik first encountered this historical figure in the anonymous eighteenth-century Dee Goong An, which he translated into English in 1949. He continued to develop Dee in his original detective fiction thereafter. A diplomat and scholar of sinology, Van Gulik incorporated his research into the novels, as well as providing illustrations. This volume includes ten exquisite woodblock-style illustrations by the author.
Evers, p. 55.
SKU: 2124227