Morse was an American who served for over three decades in the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs Service. After his retirement, he turned to China scholarship, of which this was his first major work; he paved the way for later Western students of China such as John King Fairbank. 

The book is in very good condition. Externally, there is moderate wear (chiefly to top and bottom spine edges, a bit to corners and side spine edges), light staining, and some scuffs; the gilt remains bright. The binding is firm and square. The pages are very clean overall, although there are a small handful of vertical pencil 'underlines' in the margins. The many plates and fold-outs are in very good condition, although some of the tissue guards are torn or loose.