" [1] Paris, l'Imprimerie Impériale, 1813, large in-folio ( 47 x 30 cm ) , (6)nn pp + lvi pp + 1112 pp + (2)nn pp (errata). ( complete) [Bound with] [2] (Supplement) Paris, l'Imprimerie Royale, 1819, (12) pp + 168 pp ( complete). Bound in later buckram, the smooth old leather spine has been retained and tipped on to the new spine. A good sturdy binding. Both the dictionnary and his supplement are printed on strong laid paper. The chinese caracters are printed from woodcuts, most pages are divided in two colums. Provenance. This book once belonged to the German philologist Adolf Ellissen ( 1815 - 1872). His manuscript ex-libris ( in German and in Chinese caracters) is written on the title page of the dictionnary. Page X and (11,12-blank) of the supplement contain extensive notes written partially in Chinese and in 19th century cursive German handwriting. These neatly written notes are obviously transcriptions of classical Chinese texts with German translations and are most probably by the hand of Ellissen. The monumental dictionary was published on orders given by Napoleon in 1809. It is the first large scale philological publication in a modern Western language to deal with Chinese and as such a milestone in the meeting of East and West. The editor de Guignes was one of the few Frenchmen at that time who had resided in China and this for over 17 years. The book is based on the work of the Italian missionary Basilio Brollo (1648 -1704) who compiled a Latin-Chinese dictionary (see John Lust , Western Books on China item 1038 , and Lust 1048 for the supplement). De Guignes did not acknowledge this in his book but it was extensively exposed by Klaproth in the introduction to the Supplement which was published after the fall of Napoleon. It is rare to find the dictionary bound with the supplement; together with the fact that it belonged to the German philologist Ellissen of whom it is known that he dabbled in Chinese poetry ( and even published some translations - see Meyers Volksbücher nr. 618 ) makes this an interesting and desirable item."
Reference : 46471
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