Handbook of the Federated Malay States.

London: Edward Stanford,, 1904. Second edition, first impression, updated from the 1902 first edition with new statistical data, and pleasingly with the fragile maps in well-preserved condition. This informative guide, weighted toward economic affairs, reflects the centrality of Malaya to the industrial health of the British Empire and the opportunities available to overseas investors. Following the creation of the Federated Malay States in 1896, Sir Henry Conway Belfield (1855-1923) was appointed the first commissioner of lands and mines. With his legal and linguistic expertise, he served as resident in three of the Malay states between 1901 and 1912, before being appointed governor of the East Africa Protectorate. Provenance: with the 1906 ownership signature of L. B. Greig on the front free endpaper. In a 1909 directory, Greig is listed as the co-owner of a 650-acre rubber plantation in Selangor. He has made some pencilled economic notes on pp. 165-7 and the final leaf. These include some production estimates for the Perak Kongsi Coconut Company; in 1916, Greig (as the trustee of several debenture-holders) was involved in a civil appeal case concerning Perak Kongsi. A 1906 map of British Malaya, compiled for Sir Frank Swettenham's guide to the country, is loosely inserted. Octavo. With 5 folding maps (4 colour), the largest unfolding to 610 x 460 mm, 7 half-tone plates. Original boards, black cloth backstrip, front cover lettered in black. Boards lightly soiled, backstrip and front inner hinge professionally repaired, maps bright with the usual small stub tears, two slightly crossing the neatline and repaired with Japanese tissue, touch of foxing internally. A very good copy.