Page "Oxford University Press" Paragraph 44

Cobb mandated Henzell & Co. of Shanghai ( which seems to have been run by a professor ) to represent OUP in that city.

The Press had problems with Henzell, who were irregular with correspondence.

They also traded with Edward Evans, another Shanghai bookseller.

Milford observed, ‘ we ought to do much more in China than we are doing ’ and authorized Cobb in 1910 to find a replacement for Henzell as their representative to the educational authorities.

That replacement was to be Miss M. Verne McNeely, a redoubtable lady who was a member of the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, and also ran a bookshop.

She looked after the affairs of the Press very capably and occasionally sent Milford boxes of complimentary cigars.

Her association with OUP seems to date from 1910, although she did not have exclusive agency for OUP's books.

Bibles were the major item of trade in China, unlike India where educational books topped the lists, even if Oxford's lavishly produced and expensive Bible editions were not very competitive beside cheap American ones.