Printed largely in Chinese characters with some Manchu printing. 56; 15; 31; 53; 26 folding leaves. Five vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, later stitching. [China]: apparently privately printed by Xingfei Tang (or Shengfei Tang), “Hall of Reflecting on One’s Wrongdoings” or “Hall of Reducing Wrongdoings,” 1801.

First and only edition of this rare collection of five works on Manchu rituals, customs, and cultural practices, published by Soninggan (fl. 1776-1801), a Manchu aristocrat, in March-April 1801. Apparently privately printed, it is a composite collection, composed and put together at various times during the 18th century... More

58; 72 folding leaves. Four juan in two vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers (a little chipped), orig. printed title labels on upper covers (labels a little frayed), orig. stitching. [Beijing]: ca. 1941.

The first or early edition of this important bibliography of writings by Qing dynasty bannermen. Enhua (or En-hua; b. ca. 1867, but A.N.U. gives 1879-1954), a prominent Japanese-educated Mongol bannerman from the Zhenjiang garrison, served as vice-minister of laws in 1924 for the Beiyang government. He was a well-known bibliophile, known for his collection of books written by bannermen.

Fine set. More

58; 54 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. orange block-printed title labels on upper covers, orig. stitching. [China]: first Preface dated 1929.

First published edition of the so-called “old Manchu archives” [Manwen laodang; M.: Manbun roto), Manchu documents chronicling the reigns of Taizu and Taizong from 1607 to 1636, edited and written up in the 18th century on the basis of pre-1644 archival documents. These archives, housed in the Chongmo Pavilion of the Mukden Palace, are invaluable for the early history of the Manchus.

This edition is a Chinese translation of the Manchu. While the translation is not... More

Thousands of pages of manuscript notes, pasted-in clippings of scholarly articles by him and others, photos, etc. China: 1920s-30s.

Before Japan’s defeat in the Second World War, Kobayashi Yasuo (1874?-1964) worked as an engineer for the South Manchuria Railway Company (known as mantetsu). This organization had been founded in 1905 upon Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War. It was nothing less than an organ of Japanese imperialism in northeastern China, controlling vital infrastructure — far exceeding the railroad connecting the major cities of the region — in what in 1931 became the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Mantetsu’s sphere of... More