The image above is intriguing, and one really wonders what ”affairs” the two gentlemen were discussing. Archibald Ross Colquhoun 柯樂洪 (1848-1914) was a British explorer who was also the first Administrator of Southern Rhodesia (current Zimbabwe) 1890-1894. After this he returned to the UK, but in the second half of the 1890s travelled to Asia, and became The Times correspondent in China, travelling extensively around the country. He wrote several books about China and travelling in Asia, one of them the book of the day, China in Transformation, first edition 1898. Li Hongzhang (1823-1901) was a towering figure in late Qing China, being central for stopping the Taiping Rebellion, holding high level posts in the Qing government, and just before his death signing the Boxer Protocol. Li toured Russia, Europe and North America in 1896.
Besides the value and interest of the book as such, it has also had an interesting owner. The book is autographed by Helmer Key (1864-1939), who was a Swedish literary scholar and also the editor-in-chief of Svenska Dagbladet (1897-1934), the leading conservative newspaper in Sweden. Key was also the chair of the Swedish Publicists’ Association 1917-1920. Helmer Key had an interest in international affairs, likely with a colonial perspective, and published a longer article in 1900 called ”China and its commercial future” (”Kina och dess kommersiella framtid”). Most likely Colquhoun’s book was one of his major sources. Helmer Key was related to the feminist author and educationalist Ellen Key, and he was also the model for the character ”Dr Doncker” in Hjalmar Söderberg’s novel The Serious Game (Den allvarsamma leken).