[Collection of photographs and documents on the Sino-Japanese War].
[Collection of photographs and documents on the Sino-Japanese War]. - Image 2
[Collection of photographs and documents on the Sino-Japanese War]. - Image 3
[Collection of photographs and documents on the Sino-Japanese War]. - Image 4
[Collection of photographs and documents on the Sino-Japanese War]. - Image 5
[Collection of photographs and documents on the Sino-Japanese War]. - Image 6
[Collection of photographs and documents on the Sino-Japanese War]. - Image 7
[Collection of photographs and documents on the Sino-Japanese War]. - Image 8

The beginning of World War II in Asia

Carlson, Evans, American officer and military observer (1896-1947). [Collection of photographs and documents on the Sino-Japanese War].

[China, San Diego, Washington DC, New York, and no place, ca. 1937-1941].

47 gelatin silver prints, various sizes: 43 x 60 to 123 x 188 mm. Some images captioned in English or Chinese on the reverse.

Further, 3 typed essays by Evans Carlson (20, 11, and 2 ff. respectively), 1 typed letter by Carlson (signed in type), and 2 typed letters signed to Carlson.

€ 8,500.00

Unique material relating to the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), a conflict marking the beginning of World War II in Asia, prepared by Evans Carlson, a U.S. Marine and unlikely champion of China.

Carlson spent nearly eight years in China as a military observer and marched an estimated 2,300 miles across the country with communist guerrillas. Among the most compelling photographs appear armed partisans, including guerilla forces scaling the wall to the headquarters of the famous communist revolutionary He Long (1896-1969), civilians seeking shelter in trenches, camouflaged airplanes, bombers, destroyed trucks, stations and houses, as well as doctors and nurses, including Chinese Catholic nuns attending to air raid victims in Wuhan, a truck en route to Yulin, watchtowers along the Great Wall, and road bridges in Shanghai.

The archive further comprises notable documents relating to Carlson's travels in China and his lectures on the Chinese cause and the danger of Japanese aggression, including an unpublished essay on the Industrial Cooperative Movement to re-establish Chinese industries after Japanese attacks; an essay on Carlson's opinions on Japan titled "For an enduring Peace"; and a draft for an essay on a trip to the city of Chende; along with a letter from Carlson to the White House voicing concerns of indiscretion from British ambassador Sir Archibald Clark Kerr, who allegedly alarmed Japanese officials by meeting guerrilla leaders in Beijing and seeking the President's support for the Industrial Cooperative Movement; a typed letter to Carlson from the White House signed by Private Secretary M. A. LeHand, who is pleased to learn that Carlson is staying with the Marine Corps (13 January 1939); and the confirmation of publication of an article on the Sino-Japanese War in the "Far Eastern Survey", signed by secretary Mary C. Taussig (9 May 1941).

Provenance

From the collection of the descendants of Evans Carlson.

Condition

Occasional slight marginal flaws; photographs in excellent condition.

Stock Code: BN#62735 Tags: , , , , ,

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