A grammar of the Chinese language.

A$18,000 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Limited edition

Serampore : Printed at the Mission Press, 1815. Quarto, half-calf over marbled papered boards, spine in compartments with contrasting morocco title labels, lettered in gilt; pp vi, [2], 280, uncut; occasional foxing, rare. A landmark work in the history of missionary activity in China. First edition of this important work. Robert Morrison (1732-1834), missionary and translator, was a prolific writer in both Chinese and English. The first Protestant Missionary to China, he arrived in Canton in 1807. There he became translator to the East India Company, and pursued his work on the Chinese language. His monumental Chinese dictionary was published in three parts from 1815-23. This dictionary is his best known work today. His lesser-known Grammar was intended to help Westerners with the basics of Chinese. Published slightly before his dictionary, in 500 copies, it was seen through the press by the missionary, Joshua Marshman, who played a prominent part in translating the scriptures into the Oriental languages. Morrison is believed to have begun work on his Grammar as early as 1807, and completed the manuscript in 1811 (the preface is dated Macao 1811), sending this off to Joshua Marshman at the Serampore Mission Press in India for printing soon afterwards. Following several delays, it was finally printed in 1815, a year after Marshman had printed his own grammar book ( Elements of Chinese Grammar ) on the same press. Morrison s is therefore the first grammar book written on Chine

• Binding: Hardcover

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