A Tract for the Buryats

Book excerpt: F. Babinger, biographer of Isaak Jakob Schmidt (1779-1847), the founder of Mongolian Studies, lists "Two Little Christian Tracts" among his early publications in Mongolian; no later Mongolist apparently ever saw or described this booklet published in 1818. A probably unique copy came to light in the Library of the German Oriental Society and was transcribed and translated by Charles Bawden who is known for his careful studies of Christian missions among the Mongols. The printed text is given in facsimile. A detailed commentary analyzes the text and traces the inconsistent Christian terminology which was apparently still in an experimental stage. Schmidt's Mongolian assistants, Badma and Nomtu, were probably mainly responsible for the translation. A preface informs about the versatile printer N. Grec while an appendix gives mission reports and a related Mongolian correspondence in contemporary German paraphrase.