1853 BURMAH & SIAM MISSIONS. Rare Memoir of Female Translator & Adoniram Judson Co-Worker, Eliza G. Jones

An exceptionally rare memoir of an important early female Baptist missionary and translator who worked alongside Adoniram Judson in Burmah, and later in Siam. This the significantly enlarged edition issued shortly after her husband's death. 

Jones, Eliza G. Memoir of Mrs. Eliza G. Jones, Missionary to Burmah and Siam. New and Enlarged Edition. Philadelphia. American Baptist Publication Society. 1853. 212pp. 

Eliza Grew Jones, along with her husband, John Taylor Jones [1802-1851] were among the earliest missionaries to Siam, now Thailand. Alongside their lifetime of service for the evangelization of the Siamese people, they are 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, in which Eliza seems to have partnered as translator. 

Eliza and John married on July 14, 1830, were ordained as missionaries in Boston on July 28, 1830, originally to Burma under the American Baptist Missionary Union (ABMU). They set sail shortly thereafter, joining Adoniram Judson in Burma, working with him two years at Maulmein, and later at Rangoon.  They ended up taking charge of the work at Maulmein, with letters to the American Board of the time being signed by both Judson and Jones. Examples 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 mentorship 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.

Their work began immediately, including honing in their linguistic skills and beginning the work of translation. By September of 1833, they had produced a catechism on geography and astronomy in Siamese and translated Adoniram Judson’s first Burman tract containing a summary of Christian doctrines.

Eliza seems to have worked in tandem with her husband in the work of translation. Several tracts of the period even appear with her name as primary translator; incredibly unusual. She died of cholera at Bangkok in March of 1838. 

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

An attractive, if worn volume in quarter leather, marbled boards deteriorated as shown. Early faint sepia inscription from a Baptist Sabbath School. Tidemarks throughout. Very solid, some moderate foxing.