Boussole du langage mandarin. Koan-hoa tche-nan.

Fourth edition of the French translation (cf. Cordier, Sinica, 1696).

Bilingual Chinese-French text. With a loose leaf of Corrigenda (1 p. in-12). Shanghai, Catholic Mission Press, T'ou-Sè-Wè Orphanage, 1906.

Half purple percaline binding with corners, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets, black cloth boards, minor superficial scratches to the covers, sprinkled edges, contemporary binding.

The first French edition appeared in 1887: it was an adaptation of a conversation guide intended for Japanese students of Chinese in Peking.

Its success lay in its practical nature, which led to further editions in 1893, 1901, 1906, and 1919.

The present edition comprises 4 parts: 1. Essential conversation formulas. – 2. Mandarins and merchants discussing business. – 3. The usual style of commands. – 4. Dialogues between mandarins. The Jesuit Henri Boucher (1857-1939), the translator, was successively a missionary in Kiang-Nan and in Japan.

Modern manuscript ex-libris "Jean-Marien Blondet" at the head of a flyleaf.