Early Malacca printing - 1820 - William Milne - "A retrospect of the first ten years of the Protestant Mission to China"

"A retrospect of the first ten years of the Protestant Mission to China, (now, in connection with the Malay, Denominated, the Ultra-Ganges Missions.) Accompanied with Miscellaneous Remarks on the Literature, History, and Mythology of China, &c."

-Printed in Malacca at the Anglo-Chinese Press

-1820

-Complete: viii, 376; printed on Chinese paper

-Octavo format, bound in contemporary green half morocco with marbled papered boards. Spine label lettered in gilt. Wear to binding with spilt and minor losses at head of spine. Wear to boards. A few nicks to pages, but otherwise near fine internally.

Early description of Protestant Missionaries in China printed at one of the earliest English language presses in SE Asia

William Milne (1785-1822) was a pioneering Scottish Missionary, and the second protestant sent to China after Robert Morrison. Milne played a key role in the early development of Protestant mission in China and East Asia. Born in Scotland, Milne converted to Christianity at an early age and went on to study with the London Missionary Society. He arrived in China (Macau) in 1813, and from 1815 he was principally based in Malacca, where he established the Anglo-Chinese college in 1818. In Malacca, he founded an early missionary printing press which printed this work, as well as other key works of linguistic and cultural exchange, including the Indo-Chinese Gleaner and the Chinese Monthly Magazine. Alongside Morrison, Milne is well known for printing the second complete Chinese version of the Bible.

Based on a manuscript written by Morrison in Canton in 1817, the work gives an account of the Protestant mission in China. Although originally intended to cover the first 10 years of the protestant mission up to 1817, the work took two years to print, allowing Milne to include a further two years progress (Up to 1819).

The book starts with the history of early Christian contact with the East and a description of China as a country. As may be expected for the intended audience, the book describes the Chinese as a learned society but lacking knowledge of God. The work includes detailed description of Morrison's and Milne's activities in China, including their translation and publication of the Bible in Chinese. A detailed description of the process of printing in China is also fascinating reading.

Uncommon at auction and an important example of early European printing in East Asia.

References: Cordier 1222; Lust 927