GULIK, Robert van. The Chinese Lake Murders: Three Cases Solved by Judge Dee. A Chinese Detective Story Suggested by Original Ancient Chinese Plots London: Michael Joseph. 1960.
16mo. Publisher’s soft card covers lettered to front cover and spine, woodblock-illustrated endpapers; pp. 270, [2 (blank)], with one double-page and 13 single-page woodblock illustrations by the author; a little sunning to covers and edges of the text block, creasing to the lower margins of pp. 73-80; very good.
Uncorrected proof copy of the fifth novel in the Judge Dee detective series.
Although drafted in 1952 while he was posted in New Delhi, The Chinese Lake Murders was not published until 1959, its first appearance in Dutch under the title Meer van Mien-Yuan. The following year, Michael Joseph issued this first English-language edition.
Judge Dee is a fictionalised version of the historical Tang-dynasty magistrate Di Renjie (seventh century). In keeping with traditional Chinese crime fiction, Van Gulik structures his narrative around three interwoven cases, solved concurrently by the detective-magistrate. Throughout the series, the author’s deep engagement with classical Chinese literary models and visual culture is evident both in plot construction and his distinctive woodblock-style illustrations.
Evers, p. 53.
SKU: 2124208
GULIK, Robert van. The Chinese Lake Murders: Three Cases Solved by Judge Dee. A Chinese Detective Story Suggested by Original Ancient Chinese Plots London: Michael Joseph. 1960.
16mo. Publisher’s soft card covers lettered to front cover and spine, woodblock-illustrated endpapers; pp. 270, [2 (blank)], with one double-page and 13 single-page woodblock illustrations by the author; a little sunning to covers and edges of the text block, creasing to the lower margins of pp. 73-80; very good.
Uncorrected proof copy of the fifth novel in the Judge Dee detective series.
Although drafted in 1952 while he was posted in New Delhi, The Chinese Lake Murders was not published until 1959, its first appearance in Dutch under the title Meer van Mien-Yuan. The following year, Michael Joseph issued this first English-language edition.
Judge Dee is a fictionalised version of the historical Tang-dynasty magistrate Di Renjie (seventh century). In keeping with traditional Chinese crime fiction, Van Gulik structures his narrative around three interwoven cases, solved concurrently by the detective-magistrate. Throughout the series, the author’s deep engagement with classical Chinese literary models and visual culture is evident both in plot construction and his distinctive woodblock-style illustrations.
Evers, p. 53.
SKU: 2124208
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