PRINTED 1668: INCLUDES ONE OF THE EARLIEST PRINTINGS OF CHINESE CHARACTERS IN AN ENGLISH WORK:\"the China Character and Language much talked of in the world.\"
WILKINS\'S REMARKABLE ATTEMPT TO CREATE A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
Wilkins was a friend and colleague of Newton, a founder and secretary of the Royal Society, and brother-in-law of Cromwell.
The Book:

Wilkins, John, 1614-72. An essay towards a real character, and a philosophical language : an alphabetical dictionary, wherein all English words according to their various significations, are either referred to their places in the philosophical tables, or explained by such words as are in those tables. London : S. Gellibrand, 1668. \"An alphabetical dictionary, wherein all English words according to their various significations, are either referred to their places in the philosophical tables, or explained by such words as are in those tables\" COMPLETE; 9 p.ℓ., 454, [157] p. illus., 2 folded plates & 2 folded tables. FOLIO. 35 cm., Early calf with blindstamping, front board detached, spine peeling, wear, later paste-downs and flyleaves, t.p., right side remargined with minor loss, some general toning or foxing, inner marginal dampstain to last lvs., prelim. leaf and inner dampstain and strengthening to t.p. A work that has garnered increased attention in the antiquarian world, given its early and often overlooked Chinese section

\"John Wilkins’ commentary on “the China Character and Language
so much talked of in the world,” from An Essay towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language (1668) Wilkins’ foray into comparative linguistics dates from 1657–9, when he began work on his universal language scheme. He completed his design of “a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language” by 1665, and much of the manuscript had been printed by 1666 when the Great Fire of London struck, consuming all but two of the printed copies and most of the original MS. It took Wilkins until 1668 to reconstruct the text and reissue it (all under the Royal Society’s imprimatur). The Chinese character gets special mention in Wilkins’ book because it, along with Latin, was regarded as a well-established philosophical language. \" [Ref: style=\"color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial; font-size: small;\">
John Wilkins (1 January 1614 – 19 November 1672) was an English clergyman, natural philosopher and author, a friend and colleague of Newton, a founder and secretary of the Royal Society, and brother-in-law of Cromwell. \"In 1668 he published his Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language. In it he attempted to create a universal language to replace Latin as a completely unambiguous tongue with which scholars and philosophers could communicate.[33] One aspect of this work was the suggestion of a decimal system of measurement, such as the metric system\" [Wikipedia]