REV. WILLIAM ALEXANDER PARSONS MARTIN (1827-1916) The Analytical Reader. A short method for learning to read and write Chinese, by ... Martin ... of the American Presbyterian Mission. Shanghai: Presbyterian Mission Press, 1863. 2 parts in one volume, 4° (240 x 165mm). 1p. corrigenda at end. 20th-century red half morocco, the flat spine divided into six unequal compartments by double gilt fillets, lettered in the second, third and sixth compartments, the others blank. VERY RARE FIRST EDITION. The work is divided into two parts (which are given separate entries by Cordier). The first part is itself divided into three sections: the first describes the best method of using the work, the second gives text and translation of a group of characters selected as being useful in the description of specific subjects ('Creation, Fall, Redemption' etc.). The third section includes an analysis of the characters used. The second part is sub-titled '... A Vocabulary of two thousand frequent characters with their most common significations, and the sounds of the Peking dialect', and is numbered from pp.1-56. Cordier Sinica III,1691.

REV. WILLIAM ALEXANDER PARSONS MARTIN (1827-1916)