China | New Testament in Chinese, Shanghai, 1894, Imperial Edition, black morocco gilt

China—New Testament

New Testament in Chinese. Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, 1894

IMPERIAL EDITION, 4to (308 x 222 mm.), Chinese text, title printed in red and black, large type framed within an ornamental red border, original black morocco, titled in gold on upper cover, with blind-stamped bamboo pattern, gilt edges, short tear to title (not affecting text), rebacked retaining most of the original spine, rubbed

A RARE EDITION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT IN CHINESE, printed from the same type as the original which was presented to the Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) on her 60th birthday. This rare example of a Chinese language Bible exhibits fine printed text with rubricated ornamentation in an impressive tooled and gilt binding. In 1861, Cixi's infant son Zaichun became Tongzhi Emperor, and, after ousting the regents appointed by the late emperor, she assumed the regency. After Zaichun's death in 1875, Cixi engineered her nephew succeeding as emperor, meaning that she effectively controlled the Chinese government for over forty years. The idea of presenting Cixi with a bible on her birthday was proposed at the Shanghai Missionary Conference in February 1894. The present lot is an almost exact duplicate of that presented to Cixi, with an exception of the binding: Cixi's Bible was bound in silver boards, and housed in a matching silver casket.

LITERATURE:

Darlow and Moule 2606; Lydia He Liu, The Clash of Empires (2006), p. 142

PROVENANCE:

Presented to the Library of Bala Bangor College (Bala Independant College, Wales), from an alumnus William Hopkyn Rees (1859-1924), of the London Mission in 1901. He was a Welsh missionary, linguist and author who lived and worked in China after his attendance at Bala Independent College.