First edition of a monumental Chinese-English dictionary, the first one of this scale by an American sinologist. It consists of 12.572 characters, arranged under 10.940 headword characters, classified alphabetically under 522 syllables, and includes the pronunciation of each character in the dialects of Beijing, Canton, Amoy, and Shanghai, as well as Mandarin and variants of Middle Chinese. This large dictionary, which took eleven years to compose, is considered a milestone in American sinology.
The work was an attempt to combine and synthesise the achievements of Western lexicography in China, in particular the method of dialect comparison, while making extensive use of Chinese reference works and traditional lexicographic sources. It includes information about general and vernacular readings of characters, aspects of the etymology and history of characters, and variant authorised and colloquial meanings, to "satisfy all the needs of a foreigner" (preface). The work was intended, and seen as, a successor of Robert Morrison's Dictionary of the Chinese language (1815-1823), which was already fifty years old at the time. It was relatively successful and was reprinted several times until 1909.
Samuel Wells Williams (1812-1884) was an American linguist, missionary, and sinologist In 1877, he became the first professor of Chinese language and literature in the United States at Yale University. His work as both author and teacher helped Americans gain a better understanding of the real China.
With a red stamp in Chinese on the Chinese and English title page, and on several other leaves, small annotation in pencil throughout, a short description of the work mounted on the front pastedown. The edges and corners of the boards are scuffed, the joints are somewhat weakened, but the structural integrity of the binding is still intact. The work is lightly browned throughout, a water stain at the top edge. Otherwise in good condition. Cordier Sinica, col. 1599.