A wooden block, containing part of the New Testament translated into the Chinese Language

Object Status:

Unlocated

Primary Source Reference:

Peale Museum Accessions Book, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, p. 77

Additional Source Text:

"The characters were cut at the Mission House, Serampore Asia [in the Indian state of West Bengal], forming a page of Stereotype."

Notes:

This item was offered in the Harmon A. Chambers sale, ca. 1858 (item no. 3365, catalogue p. 17); the block was used on the front and back covers of A Catalogue of Rare and Valuable Coins, Medals, Minerals, Fossils, Corals, Shells, Manuscripts, Antiquities, Curiosities &c. (Carbondale, Pa., ca. 1858), pictured here.

The donor was the Rev. Dr. William Staughton (1770-1829), a well-known cleric and educator who had been president of Columbia College, the precursor to George Washington University. He was married to James Peale's daughter Anna Claypoole Peale (1791-1878), the miniaturist, from August 1829 until his death that December.