The desire to preserve the contents of several aging editions of Ernest Bramah's books which had been shortened at diverse ends by my paternal ancestor, as a gravity-removing measure for perambulation through the upper air, was one of my motivations to start typing books up.

The overly-polite dialogue of an imaginary Chinese society provides a vehicle for Bramah (1867-1942) to write in an ornately humorous style.

There is a detailed site about Ernest Bramah here. It is put together by Mike Berro, a paper book collector with a comprehensive knowledge of his subject.

I do not have links to all of the books listed below. The ones that are missing are likely not out of copyright in the U.S., and I haven't yet gotten around to sending them to Project Gutenberg of Australia. Nor are all of Bramah's Chinese stories in these books. It seems many were printed in periodicals, and some of them have only recently been collected into new books.

The Wallet of Kai Lung
A collection of short stories.


The Mirror of Kong Ho
Letters written by Kong Ho from London to his father "Kong Ah-Paik, reclining beneath the sign of the Lead Tortoise, in a northerly direction beyond the Lotus Beds outside the city of Yuen-ping. The Middle Flowery Kingdom."

Kai Lung's Golden Hours
Kai Lung makes the acquaintance of K'ang Hwa-mei, also known as the Golden Mouse, and of the depraved Ming-shu.


Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat
The malignity of the depraved Ming-Shu once more rears its offensive head into the history of the inobtrusive Kai Lung and Hwa-mei.


The Moon of Much Gladness
"In order to grasp the position adequately, revered, it is necessary to raise somewhat the curtain of this one's secret activities extending over a period of moons, when it was generally supposed that she was busily engaged in gumming her not very attractive hair into new and alluring shapes, or embroidering wholly mythical winged creatures in golden thread upon a purple background," resumed Hwa-che, when she was reasonably assured that Kwan Yen was merely thinking. "In the security of a chamber far removed, however, and under the guiding hands of those skilled in the obscure, she was in reality imbibing the hidden wisdom of the mysterious West--those remoter Out-lands on the uncharted fringe of space where to a suitable accompaniment of the dim green light peculiar to such parts, unthought-of systems for disclosing what is dark, and the retributive avenging of stealthy crimes have long been practised by a highly special guild of the literary classes."

Kai Lung Beneath the Mulberry Tree
A collection of short stories.