Description: The Middle Kingdom: A Survey of the Geography, Government, Literature, Social Life, Arts and History of the Chinese Empire and Its Inhabitants Williams, Samuel Wells (1812-1884) Published by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1901 COMPLETE 2 volumes. xxv+836 pages with fold out colored frontispiece, illustrations, figures and plates; xii+775 pages with fold out frontispiece, illustrations, figures, plates, pocket map and index. Octavo (9" x 6 1/4") bound in original blue cloth with gilt lettering to spines and pictorial gilt to covers, head end pages in gilt. Williams was born in Utica, New York and studied at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. On graduation he was elected as a Professor of the Institute. On the June 15, 1833, and still in his twenties, he sailed for China to take charge of the printing press of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions at Guangdong, China. In 1837 he sailed on the Morrison to Japan. Officially this trip was to return some stranded Japanese sailors, but it was also an unsuccessful attempt to open Japan to American trade. On November 20, 1845 Williams married Sarah Walworth. From 1848 to 1851 Williams was the editor of The Chinese Repository, a leading Western journal published in China. In 1853 he was attached to Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry's expedition to Japan as an official interpreter. In 1855, Williams was appointed Secretary of the United States Legation to China. During his stay in China, he wrote A Tonic Dictionary Of The Chinese Language In The Canton Dialect (??????) in 1856. After years of opposition from the Chinese government, Williams was instrumental in the negotiation of the Treaty of Tientsin, which provided for the toleration of both Chinese and foreign Christians. His book English & Chinese vocabulary in the court dialect, was based on the Nanjing dialect of Mandarin rather than the Beijing dialect. In 1860, he was appointed chargé d'affaires for the United States in Beijing. He resigned his position on October 25, 1876, 43 years to the day that he first landed at Guangzhou in 1833. Around 1875, he completed a translation of the Book of Genesis and the Gospel of Matthew into Japanese, but the manuscripts were lost in a fire before they could be published. He returned to the United States in 1877 and became the first Professor of Chinese language and Chinese literature in the United States at Yale University. Williams was nominated as president of the American Bible Society on February 3, 1881. He died on February 16, 1884. See photos for condition details. Map in back of V2 thick so webbing shows at hinge, shelf wear Due to high loss in shipping to certain countries, insurance is required for shipping to a location that does not provide tracking PLEASE READ THE RETURN POLICY BELOW: RETURNS are seldom made, I have been on for many years and Buyers satisfaction is important to me. This is why I provide good description, detailed photos and request questions from you to help you make the right choice to eliminate returns. Please read the description and view detailed photos. Please ask questions if you have particular needs or need clarification. Communication is important, this helps eliminate returns and any confusion or buyers with particular needs, so please do not assume I know what you are looking for unless you tell me. NOTE: If purchasing multiple items, please do so by using the Ebay Shopping Cart, then select "Request Total for Seller" for the corrected shipping on a new invoice. Do not pay for the items before receiving this corrected invoice.
Price: 449.99 USD
Location: Albany, New York
End Time: 2024-12-11T19:18:11.000Z
Shipping Cost: 9.88 USD
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