19th-Century Missionary Networks: Fiji and China - Commonplace Book with Autograph of James Calvert in Fijian and a Chinese Christian Manuscript

19th-Century Missionary Networks: Fiji and China Commonplace Book with Autograph of James Calvert in Fijian and a Chinese Christian Manuscript

-Commonplace Book - c. 1840–1880

-c50 pages which contain original manuscripts, drawings, watercolours, and ephemera.

-Small 4to (c. 24 × 19 cm).

-Original blind-stamped cloth which is rubbed. Covers detached and spine with small loss.

Of particular interest is an autograph inscription in Fijian by James Calvert (1813–1892), one of the most significant early Wesleyan missionaries to Fiji. Calvert arrived in Fiji in 1838 and played a central role in the translation of the Bible into Fijian and the establishment of the first Wesleyan mission presses at Lakemba and Viwa.

The autograph reads:

“Me udolu na yamada, me vakavinavinaka vua na Kalou loloma, kei na noda i vakabula”

James Calvert, Manchester, August 8, 1859

(Translation: “O that we had a thousand tongues, to give thanks to the loving God and our Saviour.”)

Also present is a fascinating Chinese missionary calligraphic text, signed “Tyeng Howqua”, who was likely a Cantonese merchant linked to Christian missionary circles.

The Chinese text is a passage from the Gospel of John, written in a phonetic form, instead of a more formalised Chinese translation of the Gospel. This suggests the verse is an uncommon personal devotion by a 19th Century Chinese convert.

Other album contents include a well executed pencil drawing of a castle on the Gulf of Aqaba with a man next to a camel.

£1500