Canton: Canton Press Office,, 1840. The first full Chinese translation of Aesop's Fables First edition, association copy, inscribed by William Jardine, one of the three "generous patrons" named in the dedication, on the front wrapper, "R. Goff Esqr. 105 Piccadilly from the compiler with Mr. Jardine's compliments". Jardine (1784-1843) co-founded the successful trading firm Jardine, Matheson & Co. and held significant sway over the course of Anglo-Chinese relations either side of the First Opium War. This Chinese translation was intended as a primer to help the growing number of British students of Chinese working for Jardine, Matheson, the East India Company, and other concerns in Canton. Robert Thom (1807-46), who adopted the pen-name "Sloth", honed his language skills while working for Jardine's and acted as a translator for British forces during the First Opium War (1839-42) and at the 1843 Supplementary Treaty negotiations. He was later British consul at Ningbo. Each page offers three columns of English, Chinese characters, and romanized Chinese. For each fable, Thom dictated the Chinese to his teacher, who brushed them in a legible hand. According to the introduction, the volume was the first time Chinese wooden blocks and European metal type were used side-by-side during printing. Thom's translation was later reprinted in various modified editions by the Anglo-Chinese College, the Shanghai Free Hospital, and the Wenyutang (Chinese Printing and Publishing Company). This edition is well represented institutionally but is uncommon in commerce - we have traced only five appearances at auction in the past six decades. Of these, only one retained both of the original wrappers, as here. Provenance: Robert Goff (1801-1866) was an antiquarian who travelled widely in the Middle East and Asia, presenting a collection of Egyptian antiquities to the British Museum in 1847. This copy was later the Bibliotheca Lindesiana, one of the most impressive private collections of the 19th century (its bookplate is on the front pastedown). Alexander Lindsay (181280), later 25th Earl of Crawford and 8th Earl of Balcarres, met Goff while the latter was travelling and, at the sale of Goff's art collection in 1866, Quaritch acquired a collection of Chinese drawings and sold these to Lindsay. This copy entered the Lindsay library either via Quaritch or via the dispersal of the Goff library in the 1890s. It is recorded in the 1910 Bibliotheca Lindesiana catalogue. Quarto (295 x 202 mm). With engraving of Chinese character styles furnished by Elijah Coleman Bridgman, the compiler of the Canton Chrestomathy. Late 19th-century brown hard-grain half morocco by Henry Wood, raised bands ruled in gilt, spine lettered in gilt, Papier Tourniquet-pattern sides, marbled endpapers with design of Spanish moiré on Turkish with overprinted gold vein pattern, top edge gilt, original yellow printed wrappers bound in. Binding a little worn, corners and extremities recoloured, light foxing, neat tissue repairs at foot of wrappers and title page, loss at lower corner of p. 103, a few tide marks to fore edges: a very good copy. Bibliotheca Lindesiana (1910) 80 (this copy); Cordier 1683; Lust 1065.
