HUNTER, George W., translator.

Mohammedan 'Narratives of the Prophets' covering the period from Zacharias to Paul. Turki text with English translation.

[Sinkiang, 1916]. Small 4to (225 x 175 mm), pp. [iv, title and introduction], 65; mimeographed; stitched in Chinese fashion in the original wrappers as issued; preserved in a blue cloth box. ‘The translator having used a “Narrative of the Prophets” as one of his text books in studying Turki, he translated a large part of it into English. Thinking that the translation might be of interest to students of Turki and to those engaged in work amongst Mohammedans he decided to write out both the Turki text and the English translation, hence this little book. Perhaps a few remarks on the original text book will not be out of place. It is a Turki translation of Kisas-al-Anbia (a very popular work indeed amongst the Turki Mohammedans of Turkestan). The MS. contains some seventy two closely written chapters containing narratives of Adam, Noah . . . and many other Old Testament personages. But we have selected for our translation the New Testament period as we thought this would be the most interesting and useful for our readers . . . . As to the binding and printing it was my desire to see the text in a more presentable form, but from being in a very remote part of the earth, and without a printing a press, the best I could do was to take one hundred copies off a small mimeograph and use the Chinese style of binding . . . . G. W. Hunter, China Inland Mission, Tihwafu, Sinkiang, China. July 11, 1916’ (introduction).‘It was the custom in that Moslem land to transcribe all religious books by hand. These manuscripts were not easy to come by, but he was able to secure one which was a standard theological work largely read by the Turki people in Sinkiang. The book was entitled Narratives of the Prophets . . . . Hunter translated portions of this book at different times and ended by producing a very quaint volume which was of considerable interest to the restricted public which knew anything about Sinkiang, its remarkable population, and the beautiful language spoken by its Turki inhabitants. The coarse paper was made from local material, often from leaves of the desert iris, and the format was the usual style of Chinese book, with each sheet written on one side only and folded back to back. The sheets were stitched together by a deft Chinese workman and made a neat volume. George Hunter had succeeded in buying a second- or third-hand duplicating machine, and a skilled writer transcribed the Turki text on the waxed stencil sheet while Hunter wrote out the English translation below. Every sheet was rolled separately and the curious little volume went out in small quantities as its author and printer could find time to issue the tiny editions’ (Mildred Cable & Francesca French, George Hunter, apostle of Turkestan, 1948, pp. 58–9).The missionary-explorer George Hunter’s extraordinarily long and close association with Central Asia and his service with the China Inland Mission in East (Chinese) Turkestan made him a legendary figure in his own time. Born in Kincardineshire in Scotland, he reached China in 1889 and died in Kansu in 1946, having returned to Britain only once, in 1900.See Cordier, Sinica 4272. NUC locates three copies (DLC, Ocl, WaU, under Kisas al-anbiya, for which see Encyclopedia of Islam, new edition, V p. 180).

• GBP 2,250.00 > otras divisas
• nº de pedido: T2407

• librero: Bernard Quaritch Ltd. (GREAT BRITAIN)