Many fine full-page woodcuts. 56; 51; 42 folding leaves. Three vols. Large 4to (337 x 260 mm.), orig. yellow wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers (labels a bit frayed), new stitching (a little loose). [China]: from title-page in trans.: “woodblocks owned by Yi xue xuan, 1801.”

An important and uncommon large-format edition of the “first of all Chinese encyclopaedias, containing so much botanical and zoological terminology.”–Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, Vol. 6, Part 1: Botany, p. 191. This edition of the Er Ya contains the enlargements and commentary of Guo Pu (276-324), considered “the greatest commentator of the Erh Ya” (Needham, p. 188).

Guo, Chinese historian, poet, and writer, is best known as one of China’s foremost commentators of ancient texts and was a notable natural historian. Considered the most learned man of his age, he was also the first to define feng shui. Today, his edition of the Er Ya is considered to be authoritative and definitive, and without his glosses and commentaries, large portions of this text would be unintelligible. More

Large woodcut on title of an astronomer studying an armillary sphere in front of a starry sky by Hans Burgkmair & nine woodcuts in the text. 40 unnumbered leaves. Small 4to, cont. limp vellum, title written in a contemporary hand on upper cover, with the orig. nine-link chain attached to the lower cover with the orig. chain swivel & ring at other end, orig. deerskin ties. Augsburg: V. Otmar, 1548.

A fine copy of the “first German encyclopedia” of general knowledge, here bound in a very remarkable chained binding. Most surviving chained bindings are substantial folios; our example is a smaller format book with... More

One double-page woodcut map. 56; 60 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, new stitching. [China]: Wei jing tang, Preface dated 1814.

An early, variorum edition (1st ed.: 1777) of this great classic, the Xiyu wenjianlu. “The Manchu official Qishiyi, in [the present work], offers a frontiersman’s view of the conquest quite different from that of the imperial center. Qishiyi, who earned his jinshi degree in 1754, served as a low-ranking official in charge of grain supply in Turkestan. He narrates vividly the struggle for succession to the Zunghar Khanate after Galdan Tseren’s death, describes the states bordering the Qing in Central Eurasia... More

30; 32; 38; 40 folding leaves. Four vols. Large 8vo, orig. dark green patterned wrappers (some worming touching but not obscuring text), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. Kyoto: Fushimiya Toemon, colophon dated “1683.”

First edition to be published in Japan of this important encyclopedic work, printed in Chinese with Japanese reading marks. One of the first encyclopedias compiled in China, it was written by Hua Zhang (232-300), statesman, book collector, scholar, writer, and protoscientist, who also wrote, with Xu Xun, the famous catalogue of the imperial library known as Zhongjing bu [Catalogue of the Palace Texts].

Bo wu zhi was first printed in China in 1505. “The Bowu zhi is a collection of 322 items divided into 37 subject headings. Most of the material consists of short anecdotes that are more descriptive than narrative. The first juan of the Song edition gives an account of the geography of the realm, including mountains, oceans, rivers, lakes, and unusual phenomena, ending with a rhymed zan (appraisal). The Bowu zhi is attested as early as the sixth century.”–Knechtges & Chang, Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature, I, pp. 50-51 & see III, pp. 2156-63 for a biographical account of Zhang. More