All things old China - books, anecdotes, stories, podcasts, factoids & ramblings from the author Paul French

1921 – Macy’s Department Store Book Department highlights “The Difficult Asiatic Question”

Posted: July 29th, 2015 | No Comments »

In 1921 Macy’s department store in New York ran a promotion on books dealing with “The Difficult Asiatic Question”. Now, while obviously we all still remember Carl Crow (who happens to be the bargain purchase on the list at just a buck 74) the other authors are a little less well remembered. Probably second most remembered is BL Putnam Weale (real name Bertram Lenox Simpson), a Brit who’s father had been in the Imperial Maritime Customs. Putnam Weale was extremely well known in the China Hand business in the early twentieth century and The Truth About China and Japan is still worth a glance.

for the record – Hyndman was a British socialist, well known before the First World War; Pooley was a writer on various Japanese-based English language newspapers; Clarke was an Irish-American journalist and fervent Irish nationalist (as was, coincidentally, Hyndman – at least as a Home Ruler) who had been inspired to write about Japan by his friendship with the Japanese chemist Jokiche Takamine (himself a graduate student of Glasgow University, like all the best people); Sherrill was an American diplomat and US member of the International Olympic Committee between the wars who was rather aggrieved at never being selected as US Ambassador to Tokyo.

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