Two full-page frontis. woodcuts, printed on each side of first leaf of Vol. I & one full-page woodcut on final leaf of Vol. II. 61.5; 107 folding leaves. Three parts in two vols. 8vo (287 x 171 mm.), orig. wrappers (Vol. I) & modern wrappers (Vol. II), stitched (orig. stitching in Vol. I). Quần phương hạ xã: Anh quang tự, 1928.

First edition of this very rare Vietnamese edition of the story of Maudgalyāyana. The journey of Maudgalyāyana (rendered in Chinese as mulian 目連), one of the Buddha’s earliest disciples, into the most abysmal and gruesome of Buddhist hells in... More