CONSTANT, Samuel Victor. Calls, Sounds and Merchandise of the Peking Street Peddlers. Peking: The Camel Bell,
Oblong 8vo. 60 full-page color illustrations, 16 photographic illustrations tipped-in, one mounted paper pattern cut-out, one 'Pa-kua' printed in black, one musical stave. (Some spotting.) Original embroidered brocade stitched with orange cord, printed orange label on upper cover (light edge wear).
FIRST EDITION, publishing a thesis by Samuel Victor Constant (1894-?) for a degree of Master of Arts from California College in China. The institution had opened in Beijing in 1910 and later became a college. "Constant's volume presents fifty-four types of peddlers, including vendors of such goods as melon seeds, rice cakes, paper cuttings, ceramics, stoves, and new year's pictures. Also included are men who offer such services and entertainments as fortune-tellers, barbering, knife sharpening, trained-bear performances, and puppet shows" (All Under Heaven 35).
