The Analytical Reader

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Excerpt from The Analytical Reader: A Short Method for Learning to Read and Write ChineseSeveral years ago I commenced a volume, on a plan somewhat similar to that of the present work. Its progress was interrupted by a voyage to America, but when I returned, I was enabled to resume the task on a better basis. At first I had been guided in the selection of characters by no surer rule than the judgment of a Chinese scribe, who culled them from the pages of K'ang hi's Dictionary. I was now favored with a list', formed on scienti fic principles, in which every character was placed with numerical precision according to the frequency of its use.For this, I was indebted to Mr. Wm. Gamble, Superintendent of the Presbyterian Mission Press.Mr. Gamble prepared it for a purpose very different from mine, viz. To ascertain the proportion in which the several letters would be required in casting a font of metallic type, and to determine in what order the types should be arranged, so as to bring those in most common use, nearest to the hand of the compositor Both of these ends it succeeded in effecting - preventing a waste of metal in casting useless type, and increasing the rapidity of composition. But it was obvious that a collection arranged with such elaborate care might be adapted to a higher end - to save the time expended in learning rare or useless characters, and abbreviate for foreign students, or Chinese pupils the tedious task of acquiring the written language. The process by which these tables were constructed is well stated by Mr. Gamble, in an Introduction, the greater part of which I take the liberty of transcribing, for the sake of the information it contains.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.