The Rudiments of the Chinese Language, with Dialogues, Exercises, and a Vocabulary.

SUMMERS, James.

Published by London: Bernard Quaritch, 1864

About this Item

First edition, uncommon complete with the folding table as here. Aged just 25, the author (1828-1891) was appointed Professor of Chinese at King's College, London, where he taught a young Ernest Satow. Summers's contributions to Chinese and Japanese studies have only been recently appreciated. His publications reached a far wider audience than those printed by sinological presses in Malacca and Hong Kong, he catalogued the extensive Asian collections of the India Office Library, and produced the first translations of Shakespeare into Japanese. He also had a knack for attracting trouble: "On 7 June 1849, while Summers was strolling around the city in Macao, he run into the local celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi. There, he encountered a Catholic procession in a narrow alley. Catholic tradition expected all male passers-by to remove their hats and, thereby, show respect. But as Summers was a Protestant, he resolutely refused to comply and ended up in prison. One day later, Summers wrote to the U.S. consul in Macao and to other Westerners who had travelled to Macao with him, and asked for their help. Somehow, his message reached Captain (later Admiral of the Fleet Sir) Henry Keppel (1809-1904), a senior British naval officer on the China Station, who thought it his duty to rescue his countryman and therefore sent ships to Macao to demand Summers' release. Somehow in the melée, several English and Portuguese soldiers were either killed or wounded" (Kwan). Cordier 1674. Uganda Sze Pui Kwan, "Transferring Sinosphere knowledge to the public: James Summers (1828 91) as printer, editor and cataloguer", available online. Small octavo. Folding frontispiece. Original brown cloth, rebacked to style soon after publication, spine lettered in gilt and ruled in blind, covers blocked in blind, yellow coated endpapers, edges sprinkled red. Recent bookseller's ticket on front pastedown, recent initials on rear free endpaper. Covers clean, signature clipped from front free endpaper, front inner hinge just starting: a very good copy.

Seller Inventory # 176825

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Rudiments of the Chinese Language, with Dialogues, Exercises, and a Vocabulary.
• Publisher: London: Bernard Quaritch, 1864
• Edition: 1st Edition