First edition. Folding map and 12 plates (incl. 9 original photographs). Small 8vo. Original printed boards with original inset photograph, recased, but overall a very good copy. [viii], 76, [iv](ads.)pp. Peking/Tientsin, La Librarie Francaise, 1923.
“Dedicated to all Good Abbots of the Western Hill Temples”. A beautifully produced booklet on the various temples in the mountains to the West of Peking, some of which date back to the Song dynasty (12th century). Includes chapters on the Ba Ta Ch’u (Eight Great Places) temple group, the White Pine Mausoleum, and the Home of the Imperial Mummy. “If space permitted I would write… of the monastery hidden deep in the hills where Chinese trappists astound the traveller by chanting their services in Latin and of some of the multitude of little way-side temples where often a solitary priest lives simply but cheerfully among the poorest surroundings, his courtyards choked with weeds, his temple-bell rusting to pieces and his buddhas shedding their last flakes of gold.” (Conclusion).
