Hermit of Peking: The Hidden Life of Sir Edmund Backhouse by Trevor-Roper, Hugh

Paperback. Very Good.

US: Penguin Books Ltd, 1978. Paperback. Good. Hermit of Peking is one of the most remarkable pieces of literary detection of recent years. It all began when Hugh Trevor-Roper acquired the voluminous memoirs of Sir Edmund Backhouse, uo till then known only as a distinguished Chinese schola r who had lived quietly until his death in 1944. The memoirs depicted a very different person - a man who said that he had been 'intimate' with many nobles, from Lord Rosebery to Verlaine, and whose lovers had included the Dowager Empress of China. In fact, they were so fantastic that the author felt obliged to discover all he could about the man who had written them: and what he reveals here is the story of one of the most outrageous forgers, confidence tricksters and eccentrics of the century.

Penguin Books, 1978-04-26. paperback. Acceptable. 6x4x1. Creases in the covers. Cracked spine at page 112. Priority Mail is available on this item. No international shipping.