Fonds JE - Papers of Joseph Edkins

Zone d'identification

Cote

GB 891 JE

Titre

Papers of Joseph Edkins

Date(s)

  • 12th Jun 1893 (Création/Production)

Niveau de description

Fonds

Étendue matérielle et support

1 item 3 pages carbon copy of handwritten letter

Zone du contexte

Nom du producteur

Notice biographique

Joseph Edkins was a British Protestant missionary who spent 57 years in China. He was a Sinologue, specialising in Chinese religions. He was also a linguist, a translator, and a philologist ad was author of many books about the Chinese language and the Chinese religions especially Buddhism. Born in Gloucestershire he became a Protestant minister and was sent by the London Missionary Society, to Shanghai. He worked in the London Missionary Society Press and undertook the translation of many western scientific works into Chinese. He was an active member of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.

He returned to England in 1858 and was married to Jane Rowbotham Stobbs. They returned to Shanghai. In 1860 the Edkins family moved to Yantai, Shandong, and in 1861 to Tianjin. After his first wife's death he married Janet Wood White i 1863 and they moved to Beijing. He travelled to England in 1873 but was back in China by 1876.
In 1880 he resigned from the London Missionary Society to become a translator for the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs. He was widowed a second time in 1877 and married Johanna Schmidt in 1881. He was appointed to edit and translate a series of Western scientific works into Chinese, resulting in 16 Primers for Western Knowledge (西學啟蒙十六種) published in 1898, which comprised textbooks about zoology, botany, chemistry, geography, physiology, logic and other subjects. In 1903 he survived typhoid and was still writing at the age of 81. He died in Shanghai on Easter Sunday, 1905.

Histoire archivistique

The original letter was written by Edkins. It is unknown whether Edkins made the copy and sent it to Rhys Davids or whether the copy was made by Rhys Davids.

Source immédiate d'acquisition ou de transfert

T.H. Rhys Davids was Secretary and Librarian of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1887-1905. It is therefore likely that he received the letter and deposited it at the Royal Asiatic Society under the auspices of his official roles.

Zone du contenu et de la structure

Portée et contenu

The papers consist of a single letter from Joseph Edkins to Thomas William Rhys Davids concerning the philosophy behind Primitive Buddhism including Nirvana and karma.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Zone des conditions d'accès et d'utilisation

Conditions d’accès

Open. Please contact the archivist. Details can be found here : https://royalasiaticarchives.org/. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID.

Conditions governing reproduction

Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.

Language of material

  • anglais

Script of material

    Language and script notes

    Caractéristiques matérielle et contraintes techniques

    Finding aids

    Zone des sources complémentaires

    Existence and location of originals

    Existence and location of copies

    Related units of description

    Within the Society's collections are several books written by Joseph Edkins. Further details can be found in our Library catalogue: https://ras.koha-ptfs.co.uk/.

    Descriptions associées

    Zone des notes

    Identifiant(s) alternatif(s)

    Mots-clés

    Mots-clés - Sujets

    Mots-clés - Genre

    Zone du contrôle de la description

    Identifiant de la description

    gb891-je

    Identifiant du service d'archives

    Rules and/or conventions used

    Statut

    Niveau de détail

    Dates of creation revision deletion

    Langue(s)

      Écriture(s)

        Sources

        Archivist's note

        The material was catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2022.

        Accession area