China.- Staunton (George Thomas, translator) Ta Tsing Leu Lee; being the Fundamental Laws...of the Penal Code of China, first English edition, engraved facsimile title of 1805 Chinese edition of Qing code, with errata at end but without advertisement leaf, engraved title heavily foxed and offset, very occasional spotting, later half roan, rubbed and faded, split to upper joint, [Cordier BS 546-7; Löwendahl 748; Lust 715; Morrison I p. 697], 4to, 1810.

⁂ The first translation of the Chinese penal code which was rapidly translated into French and Italian. George Thomas Staunton (1781-1859) accompanied his father, George Leonard Staunton, secretary to Lord Macartney, on the first British embassy to China in 1792 as a page to the ambassador. Having been taught Chinese by two native missionaries he went on to serve with the East India Company at Canton, where he was the first English official who could speak Chinese, and found relief from his irksome responsibilities by working on translations from the Chinese, including the Chinese penal code offered here. On his return to England in 1817 he entered politics and continued his scholarly researches and writing on China. He was a founder of the Royal Asiatic Society, to which he presented his extensive collection of Chinese books.