STAUNTON (Georges Thomas). Ta-Tsing-Leu-Lée, ou les lois fon - Lot 214

STAUNTON (Georges Thomas). Ta-Tsing-Leu-Lée, ou les lois fondamentales ou code pénal de la Chine, avec le choix des statuts supplémentaires traduit du chinois, et accompagné d'un appendix contenant des documens authentiques Paris, Lenormant, Gagliani, Laloy, 1812. 2 vols. In-8, (4)-LII-455-(1) p. + (4)-511-(1) p., 1 folding table, contemporary havana half-basin, ornate smooth spine, black title page, marbled edges (spines rubbed, browning in margins). First edition of the French version drawn up and annotated by Marquis Félix Renouard de Sainte-Croix (1773-1840) on the English edition (1810) given by Georges Thomas Staunton (1737 - 1801), a physician who left in 1762 for the West Indies, where he befriended Lord Macartney, Governor of Grenada. This Chinese legal code, or Code of the Qing Empire, was in force from 1644 to 1912. It consists of 436 sections divided into seven divisions: General laws - Civil laws - Tax laws - Ritual laws - Military laws - Criminal laws - Laws relating to public works. (Cordier, 546-547).