Two half-page woodcut illustrations of Śākyamuni and Avalokiteśvara. Woodblock-printed. [1] (lacking title), 48 folding leaves, red edges. 8vo, orig. semi-stiff wrappers (frayed & rubbed), knot-bound with waxed cords. [Hà Nội: Xiển Pháp tự 闡法寺, 1898].

The most popular of Vietnamese apocryphal Buddhist scriptures, the Avalokiteśvara Scripture of Five Hundred Names emblematizes the popularity of Avalokiteśvara (V. Quan thế âm; Ch. Guan shi yin) worship during the Nguyễn dynasty (1802-1945). Early printed copies of this work are very rare: we find no copies outside of Vietnam.

“The total number of apocryphal Buddhist scriptures from Vietnam has not been fully calculated. Among... More

1 p.l., 38 folding leaves. 8vo (280 x 174 mm.), orig. wrappers with cover wrappers, old stitching. Thần Xá: An Thái, [French colonial period].

An extremely rare woodcut book, printed by nuns in a rural monastery in northern Vietnam. “An eponymous Mahāyāna sutra that recounts the qualities, vows, and pure land of the buddha Bhaiṣajyaguru — the Master of Healing, also known as the Medicine Buddha, or the Tathāgata of Lapis-Lazuli Light. The scripture was most likely written in northern India during the early centuries of the Common Era. [In this sutra,] Bhaiṣajyaguru vowed that his name, if merely uttered... More

21 vols. (of 24; see below). Small folio (305 x 197 mm.), orig. dark brown wrappers, edges dyed red, lower fore-edges with titles, volume numbers, & number of parts in manuscript, stitched. Hà Nội: Linh Quang Tự (Bà Đá), 1929.

A very rare set of the woodblock-printed Sutra of the Heap of Jewels (Skt. Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra, T. 0310) from northern Vietnam, here in 21 volumes (our set lacks Vols. 1, 13, & 20). We identify only one other surviving copy, in the Institute of Sino-Nôm Studies in Hanoi (Viện nghiên cứu Hán Nôm AC.666/1-24). We do not know if that... More

Woodblock-printed. 27 joined sheets (numbered except 3 & 27), 62.5 folding leaves, red edges. Tall narrow 8vo, bound between wooden boards. Hà Nội: Kì vũ tự 祈雨寺, 1889 (date of publisher’s colophon; copy perhaps printed in 1922).

A beautiful and rare example of Vietnamese printing in the accordion (“sutra-binding” or orihon) format. We find no Vietnamese edition of this sutra in WorldCat, and only the later, 1906 edition is listed in the Vietnamese Han-Nom Literature Database, surviving in two copies at the Institute of Hán-Nôm Studies (AC.403 & 498).

The Sutra of Infinite Meanings, together with the Lotus Sutra and... More