A few years ago, locally-based writer and publisher Graham Earnshaw began releasing a series of out-of-print books about China pre-1949 and, more specifically, the interactions between foreigners and locals during that period (a copy of Carl Crow's Foreign Devil's in the Flowery Kingdom which made to Shanghaiist was particularly excellent). These books were extensions of an earlier web-based project, the Tales of Old China website, which has a remarkably extensive library and picture database cataloging the rich and fascinating colonial history of China.
Following up on these projects, Earnshaw has recently released Tales of Old Shanghai, the first in a series of original historical publications (Tales of Peking, Hong Kong , etc. to follow) to be released on the appropriately named Earnshaw Books label. Tales, like his website, is a seemingly random anthology of quirky stories, quotes, and images related to Shanghai during the treaty-port era. These entries, taken separately, are amusing little distractions, but as a whole they form an intricate patchwork of people, places, and events that helped to shape the world's most intriguing city of its time.
Inside you'll find the stories of gangsters and business tycoons, gamblers and prostitutes, immigrants and refugees. There are stamps, currency, maps, and the fabulous cartoons of Sapajou, a popular Russian artist from the period. We particularly enjoyed the section on Pidgin-English and the anecdotes about petty thieves stealing everything from hats out of tram car windows to the clock off the wall of the Municipal Court (while in session, no less). In short, it has all traces of random miscellanea that made Shanghai simultaneously a fascinating, wonderful, and horrifying place to be.
At first, this unconventional format may disorient those readers looking for a more traditional historical volume with a coherent narrative thread, but that's just the point. This book is not meant to be read meticulously, cover to cover, in the attempt to learn every last detail about old Shanghai; it just isn't there. This is the kind of book you can leave on your coffee table or in the bathroom, to be picked up and read a few minutes at time over an extended period. You don't need to save your place, you can open to any page, and take a little something away within a few minutes to get all nostalgic for a period of time that we don't actually remember.
译文:
回顾：老上海故事
几年前，生于斯长于斯的作家兼出版商Graham Earnshaw开始发行有关1949年以前的中国的绝版书籍，更准确地说是描写在那段时间（Carl Crow刊登于Shanghaiist的一本叫做《花园王国的外国侵略者》的书尤其抢眼）外国人与当地人相互碰撞的书籍。这些书是早些时候一项网络课题旧中国故事的延伸，在这个网站上有大量的书籍与图片，描绘了中国漫长斑驳的殖民历史。
在此之后，Earnshaw最近出版了《老上海故事》，它是第一本以“Earnshaw书籍”标榜出版的原版历史刊物系列（此后还会出版《北京故事》、《香港故事》等）。登在他网站上的这些故事看起来像是有关作为通商口岸的上海的离奇故事、引用和图片的随意选集。这些分离的切入点似乎有分散读者注意力的嫌疑，但就整体而言，它们形成了一张人物、地域和事件的错综复杂的地图，有助于重现当时世界上最具魅力的城市形象。
本书中，你会看到有关流氓、商业大亨、赌徒、妓女、移民和难民的故事。书里有Sapajou，当时一位著名俄国艺术家，的邮票，货币，地图和有趣的动画片。特别值得注意的是洋泾浜英语的章节，以及有关小流氓的奇闻异事——他们什么都偷，从通过有轨电车窗沿偷帽子到从市政法庭的墙上偷钟（正在开庭时）。简而言之，你可以在书中找到上海杂录的所有细节故事，它们集当时上海的雍容华贵，喧嚣繁华与鱼龙混杂于一身。
起初，此书的非传统思路也许会使那些为寻找一本以一种条理清晰的叙述方式撰写的传统历史书籍而阅读该书的读者感到迷失，但这就是它的与众不同之处。不必一丝不苟、逐字逐句地拜读老上海的每个小细节，从该书中你是找不到这样的细节的。这是本你可以随手扔在咖啡桌上或者浴室里，等到有空花上一点时间拿起来品读的书。不必专门为它腾出块地方，你完全可以随便翻到哪页，把旁边的东西移移开读上几分钟，重温那段为我们遗忘的时光。