The story of Joseph Prémare's Notitia Linguæ Sinicæ

What is it about?

In 1728, the Jesuit missionary to China, Joseph Prémare, wrote a textbook in Latin and Chinese on the Chinese language for aspiring Catholic missionaries to China. Prémare was then likely the most knowledgeable European on the Chinese language. While the manuscript was sent back to Paris for publication soon after, it was only 'rediscovered' in Bibliothèque nationale de France (then known as Bibliothèque du Roi) in early 19th Century. This manuscript was circulated by way of handwritten copies until it was printed by the British Protestant Anglo-Chinese College in Malacca in 1831. An English translation of this book was issued in Canton in 1847 by an American Protestant missionary. Then, finally, a leading French Catholic press in Asia reissued the Latin version in Hong Kong in 1893, this time intended for the author's original audience. This is a history of the fascinating story of the language textbook.

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Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This paper clarifies and rectifies certain historical facts on the original manuscripts, several key 19th Century French copies and the three later publications of the work, and identifies an important early owner of one of the two surviving original manuscripts, now held by the British Library, hitherto not noted in any existing studies.