| RefNo | AP/4/15/1 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Unpublished translation of letter, 'Mr Turberville Needham, FRS, and, his enquiries after a connection between certain Egyptian hieroglyphics, and the modern writing of China' from A [Alban?] Butler and C [Charles] Morton |
| Date | 1762 |
| Description | Translation of a letter originally written in French to Fathers Novial and Bouricel of Society of Jesus, missionaries in Macao [Macau, China], from Alban Butler and Charles Morton dated 1762. The letter asks the priests to examine the characters from the Egyptian bust of Isis and determine whether they are really Chinese, and if so, the dialect, age, and meaning. It also asks if it is possible that the characters could have been borrowed. A note after the letter indicates that it arrived in Macau after the Jesuits had been banished, but was forwarded to Pekin [Beijing, China]. Numerous corrections, additions, marginalia, and deletions appear in ink throughout.
Subject: Anthropology / Linguistics
Translated by Charles Morton. Read to the Royal Society on 18 May 1768. |
| Extent | 6p |
| Format | Manuscript |
| PhysicalDescription | Ink on paper |
| AccessStatus | Open |
| RelatedRecord | AP/4/15 |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA1286 | Morton; Charles (1716 - 1799) | 1716 - 1799 |
| NA1572 | Needham; John Turberville (1713 - 1781) | 1713 - 1781 |