Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.

London: T. Werner Laurie, Limited,, 1916. Third and revised edition, first impression, in the well-preserved cloth and jacket, of the first English translation of this collection of Chinese supernatural and fantastical tales often compared to the Arabian Nights. This edition follows two earlier editions of 1880 and 1908; the former is now rare, while the latter is seldom found in collectible condition. Writing in the preface to the 1908 edition, the translator observed that Pu Songling's stories, "for all their offhand charm, are exemplars: crisp, elegant, rich in vocabulary, allusive, classical. His style is brilliant. A genius with voice and pace, he draws the reader into a fantasy-construct with the mild, disarming perspective of the innocent provincial, a persona without coyness or ironic distance". Octavo. Original orange cloth, spine and front cover lettered and ruled in black, Chinese title in black seal script on front cover, bottom edge untrimmed, others trimmed. With dust jacket and glassine. Cloth fresh, light foxing and a little soiling to edges; jacket without price on flaps as issued, spine and folds tanned: a fine copy in the near-fine jacket.