The Hung Society, or The Society of Heaven and Earth (Three Volumes).
London: Baskerville Press Limited and A. Lewis, 1925-1926. First Edition, Second issue. Hardcover. Small quartos. Three volumes in slipcase. xvi + 180pp & viii + 196pp & vi + 148pp. Red silk binding w/ gilt titling and rules to spine and gilt device to upper boards. Card dividers between the volumes. Printed in red & black on Japanese paper, coloured frontispieces. Plates, some coloured, tail pieces. An important collection of scholarly texts on the Chinese secret societies known as the 'Hung' societies, from the nineteenth century through early twentieth centuries. These were most common in Southern China, but with emigration they spread globally, and some of the modern tongs and triads are said to have evolved from them. This edition is comprised of the first issue sheets produced by Baskerville in 1925 & 1926 and which were purchased by A. Lewis at a later date (circa 1960) who had them bound with his imprint on the spines. Without the suppressed final plate ("An interesting Dollar Note") in vol. 3, as issued (the plate was suppressed shortly after the original publication, and is rarely encounted, not being included in the Lewis edition). Loosely inserted is an original colour photograph, ca. 1990s, of a surviving Hung Society altar. Very light rubbing to cloth, some bumps to corners, spine ends a little bruised and rubbed, a little darkening to page edges, else a bright and unmarked VG+ set in a VG- example of the original matching slipcase. (Slipcase has some bumping and rubbing to extremities, two inch split at opening of both top edges). Item #63752
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