C. 1910 Four Classics in Chinese & English James Legge RARE Horizontal Text

Description: Zhu shi jiao zheng Hua Ying si shu ["The Four Books in Chinese and English, annotated and corrected"] Legge, [James] [translated by]. [Shanghai?]: Shang wu yin shu guan, [ca. early 20th century?]. An English translation by the Scottish missionary James Legge (1815-1897) of the 'Four Books' (Confucian analects, The great learning, The doctrine of the mean, and The works of Mencius), together with the original Chinese. Each page features English footnotes about the translation.In good condition. Black cloth boards normally scuffed at edges and worn/bumped at corners. Head and tail of spine bumped. Gilt lettering on spine dulled, but legible. Normal toning throughout text-block; mostly at edges of leaves. Binding intact. Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. James Legge (1815 – 1897) was a Scottish linguist, missionary, sinologist, and translator who was best known as an early translator of Classical Chinese texts into English. Legge served as a representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong (1840–1873) and was the first Professor of Chinese at Oxford University (1876–1897). In association with Max Müller he prepared the monumental Sacred Books of the East series, published in 50 volumes between 1879 and 1891. This is the first volume of Legge's monumental translation of nine sacred books of Chinese literature, in a very probable 1st edition, 1st Chinese printing, with mixed asian and western binding materials, and containing the texts of the [da xue], or Great Learning, [zhung yong], Moderation or Doctrine of the Mean, [lung yü], The Analects (of Confucius), and [meng zi], Mencius ; with Chinese text printed at top, translation in the middle, and commentary at bottom ; while this is clearly Legge's text, the author's name is given in Chinese fashion as [Gu Lu], or loosely translated, "Watchman Deer", which more probably (and properly) should be rendered "Lu Gu" for "Leg-ge". The difficulties of printing this first volume were recounted by the author's daughter: "The printing office being under his control, he had to superintend the publication and binding of his works, and to send to England for paper, printing ink, etc. Among his minor worries was the fact that the volumes of Classics had to come out in various bindings. Uniformity of binding could not be secured because materials were scant in Hong Kong. Also, owing to the lack of English booksellers, he had to get the storekeepers to sell the Classics on commission among their other wares. On one occasion the ship containing all his printing paper and ink struck upon a rock and went down within sight of her anchorage in Hong Kong harbour. Her masts, sticking up above the sea, were visible from his verandah. 'I have since been able to look the event in the face. There must be some delay in the commencement of printing, but I shall be so much more advanced with my manuscripts that we can start with five men instead of three. I had engaged Sow-lung and two other men to begin printing on the first of June. If he begins now in November or December with four other men we shall be in six months nearly as far as we should have been. In the meantime I telegraph by the mail--Replace invoice immediately, sending one half by Suez Canal and one half round Cape--this will divide the risk.' After printing the books in Hong Kong he had to write to England for cases to be sent out in which to pack them and send them to England to his bookseller. 'Four hundred cases for one volume ought to be here any day, and four hundred for the other volume next month. Those cases will cost me about fifty pounds.'" Quite a rare book in both Chinese and English. Horizontal Chinese text. FORN-SHELF-0599-BB-2407-HK1918

Price: 500 USD

Location: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

End Time: 2024-08-29T17:25:01.000Z

Shipping Cost: 6.13 USD