Nouveau Syllabaire et Alphabet Chinois Phonetique. by Schutz, Ferdinand - 1856-7

Nancy: Grimblot & Vve Raybois; Lith. L. Christophe, 1856-7. First edition. 8vo (21.5 13.5 cm), pp.6, [1, blank], 25 (lithographed Chinese text), [ii]. Printed French and English text. With lithographed Arabic, Hebrew, Manchu, and Sanskrit characters. Propagation des Sciences Européennes dans l'Extreme Orient. A very good copy bound in contemporary half calf. An eccentric proposal for the transcription of biblical Hebrew names into Chinese, suggesting a method for retaining the original Hebrew meanings in Chinese characters while still providing a phonetic transcription. Schutz proposes a new Chinese alphabet of 26 letters with five accents, to represent 1443 Chinese characters, and outlines the parallels between his proposed alphabet and those of Arabic, Hebrew, Manchu, and Sanskrit. Schutz clearly wrote with the the occult interest in numerology in mind, and sees the Biblical text as replete with hidden meaning, obscured by vernacular translations. COPAC records a single copy at Cambridge.