Timothy Richard of China

1924, rare first edition of William Soothill biography of the Welsh Baptist missionary to China

Author

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Printing Details

First edition. Hardback, bound in the original orange cloth with printed titling to spine and the Chinese lettering of Timothy Richard's calling card printed to the upper board. 22.5 × 14.5cm, 330pp + 2pp publisher's ads.

Full title: Timothy Richard of China, Seer, Statesman, Missionary & The Most Disinterested Advisor the Chinese Ever Had

William Soothill was a missionary and sinologist, and this is his illustrated biographical study of his much admired friend, Timothy Richard, DD. Timothy Richard (1845–1919) was a Welsh Baptist missionary to China who influenced the modernisation of China and the rise of the Chinese Republic. In 1869 the Baptist Missionary Society sent him to China where he laboured, with infrequent furloughs, from 1870 to 1915, first in Chafoo, then in Shantung and Shansi, and finally in Shanghai, when, in 1891, he was appointed secretary of the Christian Literature Society of China. He resigned in 1915, and died in London, 17 April 1919.

His manifold activities and vast influence defy summary. Pioneer missionary, philanthropist, missionary statesman, scholar, educationist, author, and publicist, friend and adviser of princes and peasants, his Chinese name of 'Li T'i-motai' was a household word throughout the country. His Chinese honours were singularly distinguished, e.g. a mandarin of the highest grade and a member of the Order of the Double Dragon.

Chapters: 1. Foreword; 2. Early Life in Wales; 3. China in the Sixties; 4. Pioneering in Shantung & Manchuria; 5. Chefoo; 6. Farewell to Chefoo; 7. Ch'ing-Choo-Fu; 8. Famine Relief: Shantung;

9. Famine Relief: Shansi; 10. Pioneering in Shansi; 11. Developments in Shansi; 12. T'ai-yuan, Ch'ing-Chou & Peking; 13. First Furlough; 14. In Exile; 15. Christian Literature Society: Work in Shanghai; 16. Chino-Japanese War; 17. T'ien-T'ai; 18. Enlightening the Government on Missions; 19. The Reform Society; 20. Second Furlough; 21. The Reform Movement; 22. The Boxer Madness; 23. The Shansi University: A Dream Fulfilled; 24. Between the Boxers & The Revolution; 25. Conferences at Home; 26. Visits to Japan & Korea; 27. The Revolution; 28. Buddhism; 29. Home Again

Condition

This rare first edition is in good condition for age. The orange cloth has a faint water stain to the rear board and some faint splashes to the upper board, and with some slight bumping to the corners. The pages are clean and the inner binding is secure. Previous owner's label to ffep.