therefore hopes, that when the time shall come of comparing this Translation with any other, it will be found to have a still greater precedency in merit than in the date of its appearance.
The only difference between this Edition and the Original Work consists in the placing of the Glossary in the First instead of the Second Volume. As nearly the whole of the words requiring explanation occur in the First Volume, this arrangement is judged to be more convenient to the Reader, especially to Subscribers to Libraries, and Members of Book Societies, in which the volumes generally circulate separately. This dictionary of terms is indeed one of the most valuable parts of the work, abounding in new and curious observations relative to the policy, the manners, and the language of the Chinese.
Among other exertions to render his Edition worthy of the public patronage, Mr. Phillips has taken much pains to procure a CORRECT CHART OF THE ROUTE; an appendage which the Reader will find to be indispensable, and without which the narrative would be wholly unintelligible. By making this important addition, he conceives that he has considerably encreased the value of the work, and given his Edition an almost exclusive claim to the favour of the Public.
| No. 71, St. Paul's Church Yard, Oct. 20, 1798. |
