JENNER, Thomas.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Nanking Monument of the Beatitudes. First edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper verso, "Mr Charles A. Woollett, with the author's compliments. 23.IX.11".During the Taiping Rebellion, Hong Xiuquan erected in Nanjing a stone tablet carved with the Beatitudes found in the Gospel of Matthew. Although the tablet was destroyed by Qing government forces, a rubbing was taken by missionaries and brought to London. This rubbing is reproduced as the frontispiece and is the primary source for this cross-cultural historical and linguistic study.The author (b. 1836), a member of the China Society, was an expert on Chinese printing. At the 1877 Caxton Quadricentennial Celebration, he gave demonstrations of Chinese woodblock printing on his stand and exhibited Chinese and Japanese rare books, types, and woodblocks.The recipient is likely the antiques dealer who traded in Rochester in the early 20th century.

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