1840 J. T. & ELIZA JONES. Rare Siamese Sammelband of Tracts by Adoniram Judson of Thailand.

An absolutely exceptional sammelband of very scarce tracts translated and issued by co-workers of Adoniram Judson, John Taylor and Eliza Grew Jones, including a Siamese summary of Christian Doctrine modeled on, if not simply translated from, Judson's first tract in Burmese. 

The volume itself, inscribed and gifted by J. T. Taylor. Many of the tracts without a single catalogued representation in academic institutions and untraced at auction. An irreplaceable piece of early American Baptist Missions, Thai history, and early Thai printing. 

John Taylor Jones [1802 –1851] and his wife, Eliza Grew Jones, were among the earliest missionaries to Siam, now Thailand. Alongside his lifetime of service for the evangelization of the Siamese people, he is credited with introducing to Siam the modern world map, significantly developing Thai printing processes, and producing a fresh translation of the New Testament in Siamese (Thai) from Greek.

Jones was born in New Ipswich, New Hampshire [1802], attended Brown College from 1819 to 1820, and worked as a teacher from 1820 to 1823. He then graduated from Amherst College in 1825, and undertook graduate studies at Andover Theological Seminary from 1827 to 1830, and then at Newton Theological Institution in 1830.

He married Eliza Grew Jones on July 14, 1830, and was ordained in Boston on July 28, 1830, originally as a missionary to Burma under the American Baptist Missionary Union (ABMU). He and his wife set sail for the country shortly thereafter, joining Adoniram Judson in Burma, two years at Maulmein and later at Rangoon.  They ended up taking charge of the work at Maulmein, letters to the American Board being signed at the time by both Judson and Jones. Correspondence between Judson and Jones can be seen HERE. 

At the same time, the pioneering German Lutheran missionary to Siam, Karl Gutzlaff, had been petitioning the ABMU for more missionaries. After a period of something like a mentoring with Adoniram Judson and the experienced missionaries in Burmah, J. T. and Eliza Jones were reassigned to Siam in 1832. They arrived in April 1833 on the schooner Reliance, owned by British merchant and unofficial delegate from the British Crown to Siam, Robert Hunter.

Hunter was influential with the prime minister of Siam, known as the praklang. Sympathetic with the cause of Christian missions, Hunter had interceded with him on behalf of Rev. Gutzlaff, who, in an excess of zeal, offended the Siamese within the first two days of his arrival. He hit the ground running, throwing thousands of tracts into cottages, and every floating house, boat, and junk. The result of which was he was ordered expelled and his tracts burnt.

Hunter persuaded the praklang to have the tracts translated for the king to read. The king found nothing objectionable in them, but said candidly and openly that he preferred his own religion.

With Hunter’s help, the Rev. and Mrs. Jones were welcomed and stationed in Cokai, intentionally near a settlement of Burmese.

His work began immediately, including honing in his linguistic skills and beginning the work of translation. By September of 1833, he had produced a catechism on geography and astronomy in Siamese and translated Adoniram Judson’s first Burman tract containing a summary of Christian doctrines, an example of which is offered as part of the present sammelband.

Eliza, also an able translator, is represented by several works in the present volume. She died of cholera at Bangkok in March of 1838. John married again, to Judith Leavitt, in November of 1840. She died at sea in March of 1846 while en route back to the US with her husband and daughter. He was married for a third and final time in August of 1847, to Sarah Sleeper who, after Jones' death in 1851, married Jones' adopted son S. J. Smith [1853]. They continued the work in Siam, making Sleeper one of the longest serving missionaries in early Siamese missionary history, at 42 years.

An interesting academic article on the connectivity between William Carey, Adoniram Judson, and the Jones family HERE. 

Jones, Eliza Grew. Stories of Joseph and Moses. 2nd Edition. 10,000 Copies. Bangkok, Siam. Mission Press. 1840. 64pp. Containing 11 woodcuts.

Bound with:

Jones, Eliza Grew. The Story of Daniel. Third Edition, Revised. 10,000 Copies. Bangkok, Siam. Mission Press. 1842. 24pp. Containing 2 woodcuts.

Bound with:

Jones, John Taylor. Parables of the Lord Jesus. 3rd Edition. 9,500 Copies. Bangkok, Siam. Mission Press. 1842. 32pp.

Bound with:

Jones, John Taylor. Instructions of the Lord Jesus. 2nd Edition. 5,000 Copies. Bangkok, Siam. Mission Press. Nd. 24pp.

Bound with:

[Adoniram Judson] Jones, John Taylor. Summary of Christianity. Prepared by J. T. Jones. 5th Edition. 15,000 Copies. Bangkok, Siam. 1842. 24pp.

Bound with:

Jones, John Taylor. Golden Balance. Bangkok, Siam. Mission Press. Fourth Edition. 2,000 Copies. 1841. 32pp. Containing 2 woodcuts.

Bound with:

Davenport, Robert Dunlevy. The Sea Captain, with Remarks on His Conversion. In Siamese. Second Edition. 2,000 Copies. Bangkok, Siam. The Mission Press. February, 1844. 28pp.

Bound with:

Davenport, Robert Dunlevy. A Treatise on the Evil Effects of Gambling. In Siamese. First Edition. 1500 Copies. Bangkok, Siam. The Mission Press. November, 1843. 32pp. 

Good + to very good Ex library with usual marks to cloth and a few indications on prelims, but generally very minor. Textually exceptional. 

With, separately:

Jones, Mrs. Eliza G. Memoir of Mrs. Eliza G. Jones, Missionary to Burmah and Siam. Philadelphia. American Baptist Publication and Sunday School Society. 1842. 1842. 172pp.

Good copy in original cloth, chipping at extremities, small section of 1 inch at head of spine relaid. Some general foxing and handling. Retains original small woodcut period label to pastedown from the American Baptist Publication and Sunday School Society of Philadelphia.