Seiyō Shisho: Eikan Taiyaku

ENQUIRE

西洋四書：英漢對譯 大學
[Seiyō Shisho: Eikan Taiyaku, Daigaku, “The Western Four Classics: an English-Chinese Parallel Translation of 'The Great Learning'”]

[Confucius (original text by)]; Rejji, Zēmusu [Legge, James (English translation by)]; Seki, Yoshitaka [Japanese "translation" by].

Tōkyō: Yamatoya Kihē, Meiji 5 [1872]. 

Thought to be the first English translation of Confucius's Great Learning published in Japan, this intriguing little book offers parallel Chinese and English translations with respective Japanese kunten reading marks and katakana pronunciation. Like Matteo Ricci some two hundred years before him, James Legge (1815-1897), a Scottish sinologist and missionary to Hong Kong, believed missionaries should read the Chinese classics in order to better comprehend Chinese culture. Legge spent several decades translating the classics into English, and many different editions, including this monograph, were published around the world during his lifetime. While Seki Yoshitaka is credited on the accompanying original book-envelope with "translating" the book into Japanese, it is clear that he has rather added the Japanese kunten reading marks for the original classical Chinese text in the upper half of each page and the Japanese pronunciation of English words in the lower half, still by no means a simple task. The text is woodblock-printed, and it seems probable that the English font was based on whichever English edition Seki was working from. The title on the envelope is 西洋四書：英漢對譯 大學便蒙 (Seiyō Shisho: Eikan Taiyaku, Daigaku Benmō) and the publisher's name is given as 寶集堂 ("Hōshūdō" (Yamatoya Kihē)). No copies located outside of Japan in OCLC.

On double leaves, fukurotoji style. Binding re-sewn. Original wrappers, a little worn and with a few small marks. Sticker removal to title. Minor foxing, mainly to extremities. Very good to near fine. Comes with original book-envelope. 1 v., complete. [2] + 58 leaves. 18.5 x 12.1 cm. Text in Chinese and English, with kunten reading marks and katakana annotations.

Seiyō Shisho: Eikan Taiyaku
SOLD