Printed in Chinese characters & Korean Hangul. Ten columns per page; variable number of characters per column. 152 folding leaves. Two vols. bound in one. Large 8vo (295 x 202mm., text block: 217 x 153 mm.), orig. yellow wrappers, new stitching. [Korea]: n.d., but ca. 1796.

First edition and rare. The great rhyme books [issued in Korea] of the eighteenth century were Hwa-Dong jeongeum tongseok un-go [Examination of Rhymes in the Correct Pronunciation of China and the East [viz. Korea], with Comprehensive Explanations] from 1747, Samun seonghwi [Collected Sounds of the Three Rhymes] from 1751, and Eojeong Gyujang jeonun [Royally... More

Two parts in one vol. Small folio, orig. wrappers (somewhat tired & a little soiled, some light staining & soiling here & there), manuscript title on upper cover, later stitching. [Hansong (Seoul): Kyujanggak (the Royal Library), Preface dated 1793 & 1796].

First edition of this handsome and large-format (323 x 217 mm.) royal publication. King Chongjo (1752-1800), was one of the most intellectual and enlightened of the Korean monarchs. Perhaps Korea’s greatest bibliophile, as royal patron he supported all aspects of the book: typographers, printers, authors, librarians, and lexicographers. A number of “royal” editions were published under his auspices. He... More

Seven columns of text per page. 68; 72 folding leaves. Two vols. Large 8vo (285 x 206 mm.), orig. (or very early) dark thick wrappers (strengthened & with new endpapers), new stitching. From the colophon: Kyoto: Ekirin Hirai, 1597.

The setsuyoshu, the essential Japanese dictionary, “one of the mainstays of the publishing industry and…probably the most likely book to be found in a house of few books.”–Kornicki, The Book in Japan, p. 248. Widely used from the 15th century through the early Meiji period; there were more than 500 editions in many styles and formats, and many with additions. All... More

Six vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, orig. stitching. [China]: Shaishu tang 曬書堂, 1884.

A mid-Qing work of glossography and ethnography by a leading scholar. The work “does not separate its contents into sections, but the source material of every juan is roughly regrouped by kind. Juan 1 covers foodstuffs, juan 2 clothing, juan 3 tools, juan 4 forms of address, juan 5 seasons and events, juan 6 things, juan 7 measure words, juan 8 institutions, juan 9 government offices, juan 10 miscellaneous discussions, juan 11 religion, juan 12 flora and fauna, juan... More

Illus. in the text. xiv, [2], 1020 cols.; 1 p.l., [1029]-1802 cols., [1] p., one leaf of errata. Two vols. 8vo, fine cont. speckled polished sheep, spines gilt, contrasting leather lettering pieces on spines. Frankfurt am Main: A. Hermann the Younger, 1802.

First edition of this great and influential music dictionary. Koch’s “Versuch einer Anleitung zur Composition (1782-93) and Musikalisches Lexikon (1802)…are the most comprehensive works of their kind in the Classic era…the Lexikon, a dictionary of musical terms, is a valuable source of information on theory and aesthetics, much of it is drawn from the Versuch, and Koch frequently... More

[4], 51; 58; 38; 31 (lacking f. 12); 36; 30; 34 (lacking f. 11); 37; 28 (lacking ff. 5 & 7); 30; 35; 30 (lacking f. 25) folding leaves. 12 debtelin in 12 vols. 8vo, old wrappers, old stitching. Beijing: Sanhuai tang (from title-page) & Sihe tang (from Vols. 3 & 10), [Preface dated 1750].

The Manchu Collected by Li Yanji (fl. 1693-1750?) is one of the earliest and most popular Manchu-Chinese dictionaries to be commercially published in Beijing. Li, a Chinese bannerman and “an erstwhile local magistrate in Sichuan and Fujian,” compiled and privately published this dictionary in 12... More

2 p.l., 192 pp. 8vo, orig. green sheep-backed marbled boards (boards a little wormed), spine gilt (Western style). “Te Dordrecht, bij Blusse en van Braam, 1854. Nagedrukt te Nagasaki in het 4de Haar van Ansei (1857.”

First edition printed in Japan; one of a very few Nagasaki ban, printed on Japanese paper using metal type and bound Western-style in Nagasaki by the Japanese government in the earliest years of the resumption of Western printing in that country. We find no copy of our Nagasaki imprint in WorldCat. All Nagasaki ban are rare, and this is the first “Nagasaki ban” we... More

69; 52; 61; 54 folding leaves. Four vols. Oblong 8vo (140 x 210 mm.), orig. persimmon-stained wrappers (a little worn), new stitching. From the colophon: “1597” (but see below).

First edition of this rare movable type dictionary of renga poetry. This is the earliest Japanese movable type book we have yet encountered (the first book printed in Japan with movable type — using Korean technology — appeared in 1593). It is one of the first dictionaries of renga poetry, written by one of the great masters of the genre. This book is very rare; WorldCat lists only the Kyoto University... More

Engraved allegorical frontis. by Daniel Chodowiecki. Woodcut illus. & printed music in the text, including several folding leaves of printed music in the pagination. xii, 568 pp.; 2 p.l., [569]-1287, [8] pp. Two vols. Large 4to, fine cont. marbled polished sheep (minor browning), flat spines richly gilt, red & green morocco lettering pieces on spines. Leipzig: Heirs of M.G. Weidemann & Reich, 1771-74.

First edition, and a lovely set, of this encyclopedia of the fine arts, “one of the most widely consulted and frequently cited works on aesthetics of the German Enlightenment…Aimed at a popular market of art-loving amateurs (Leibhaber)... More