145 full-page woodcuts. Four juan bound in four vols. 8vo, later wrappers (some inoffensive worming in all vols.), stitched. Suzhou: Wu xue pu ju, Preface dated 1836.

First edition of this richly illustrated book; it is rare on the market. “The first [Chinese] handbook specialized in technical knowledge about hydraulics (that we know of). It is an extremely valuable work because of the precise descriptions of each tool, the accompanying illustration and the attention given to terminology” (Spicq, “Linqing”).

Wanggiyan Linking (1791–1846) — or, in the more common Chinese spelling, Wanyan Linqing — is one of the few Manchu bureaucrats... More