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

Picture scroll, on paper, discussing & illustrating garden designs of the Muromachi period (1335-1573) in Japan. Ten large brush & ink drawings of gardens, with much manuscript text & accompanying illustrations of varieties of rocks. Scroll (365 x 6270 mm.), outer blue endpaper at beginning (paper a little wrinkled), wooden core roller. [Japan]: copies of texts written in 1395, 1475, 1509, & 1523; compiled mid-Edo.

A handsomely illustrated picture scroll discussing and depicting Japanese garden design considerations, derived from four texts composed in 1395-1523 during the troubled Muromachi period. These texts were all based on the Sakuteiki 作庭記... More

3, 6, 67 folding leaves. Large 8vo, orig. yellow patterned wrappers (wrappers a little soiled), orig. block-printed title label on upper cover, new stitching. [Hansŏng: Mugyo sinp’an, 1869].

First edition of a rare anonymous manual for the general education of writers of classical Chinese from late Chosŏn Korea. The terms “bamboo slips” and “wooden tablets” originally referred to the material supports of writing in antiquity. In classical Chinese usage of later ages — and in this title — the phrases were used metonymically in reference to the implements and genres of classical Chinese writing. The Essentials of the Bamboo Slips... More

73; 67; 57; 70; 69; 56; 52; 74; 73 folding leaves. Ten juan in nine vols. Large 8vo, orig. wrappers, new stitching. [Japan]: from final leaf of final volume (in trans.): “ninth month September 1619.”

First movable type edition printed in Japan, and a very rare book; there is apparently no copy in WorldCat. There is an example in the National Diet Library.

The book is of unknown authorship, but both its contents and the extant editions suggest that it was written in the Yuan period (1271-1368). It lists the family names of prominent Chinese lineages arranged by pronunciation. The... More

Manuscript on paper, entitled on the upper wrapper. One full-page manuscript map, in brush & ink, of the eight major roads or provinces of Korea & many tables in the text. 111 numbered folding leaves. Small folio (302 x 215), orig. patterned wrappers (wrappers a little soiled & wormed), stitched as issued. [Korea: 18th or 19th century].

Manuscript gazetteer describing Chosŏn Korea, which was referred to as “the East” (tung 東) or the “Eastern kingdom” (tungguk 東國) before the 20th century. Our manuscript was written between 1694 (we find that date in the text) and 1895, when the eight provinces... More

Ten columns per page, 21 characters per column. Two sizes of type. 38 folding leaves. Large 8vo (321 x 200 mm.), orig. brown patterned wrappers, new stitching. [Seoul]: Pich’ŏndang 丕闡堂 Building, Sŏnggyun’gwan [today’s Sungkyunkwan University], 1872.

First edition and very rare; WorldCat lists only the Berkeley copy. “Scroll” is clearly used here as a figure of speech, as this is a codex-style book, printed using movable (metal or wooden?) type in 1872. Sungkyunkwan, established in 1398, was the highest educational institution in Chosŏn Korea. It is now the sight of an eponymous university. The location of the printing of this... More

21.5 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. yellowish-brown wrappers, new stitching. [Korea]: n.d.

Yuhap is a common primer for children dating from the early Chosen period. The book teaches Chinese characters by giving their Sino-Korean pronunciation along with a vernacular Korean translation. Both the pronunciation and the translation are given in han’gul, the Korean alphabet promulgated in 1443. The characters are arranged by category, as indicated by the title. The end of a list of characters belonging to a certain category is indicated by a short sentence in classical Chinese.

Yuhap was widely used in Chosen Korea alongside the Thousand Character Essay... More

Two brush & ink drawings in the text. 89 folding leaves. 8vo (190 x 127 mm.), orig. wrappers (wrappers somewhat frayed), orig. stitching. [Japan?: mid-Edo].

A most interesting and extensive manuscript on acupuncture and moxibustion, divided into seven parts. Based on WorldCat and Kyoto University’s manuscript with the same title, we can attribute the authorship of these texts to Chishin Tanaka, a physician of the early Edo period.

The first four parts (“East,” “West,” “South,” “North”; 17, 17, 25, 12 leaves, respectively) are devoted to general principles of acupuncture and moxibustion. In each of these parts, many symptoms and case... More

Two parts in one vol. 25, 13 folding leaves. 8vo (198 x 135 mm.), orig. wrappers (rubbed), old stitching. [Japan]: at the beginning of each part & on final leaf (in trans.): “Oyo [today, Nagoya] retired doctor Tokei [or] Tokoku Yoshida copied 6 June 1767.”

The first part provides a detailed explanation of the theory and practice of acupuncture, concentrating on 28 different ways to use the needle. At the end of this part, there is a most interesting discussion of Zi Wu Liu zhu [The Midnight-Noon Ebb-Flow Acupuncture Method], which is used as a theoretical guide to determine whether... More

Nine folding leaves. 8vo (207 x 145 mm.), orig. wrappers (a little worn & frayed), new stitching. [Japan]: from the first & final page in trans.: “Information provided by Asaemon Shimizu near Imabari Castle [in today’s Ehime Prefecture]…on an auspicious day in September 1796.”

This rather slight manuscript is of considerable interest, as it lists 35 medical conditions, along with names of pressure points and methods of treatment. These illnesses include heart disease, skin problems, tumors, dental matters, throat and lung diseases, intestinal problems, reproductive issues, communicable diseases like cholera and gonorrhea, obstetrical problems, and diseases of children. There is... More

88, [4] pp. Small 4to, orig. blue cloth, uncut & unopened. Tokyo: Noda Shobo, 1936.

First separate edition, limited to 170 copies, originally published in 1918 in two newspapers. Akutagawa (1892-1927), is today most famous for having written the story “In the Grove” which was the basis for the classic film Rashomon by Kurosawa. The theme of the present story is concerned with artistic obsession. It was dramatized by Mishima in 1953 and made into a movie — Portrait of Hell — in 1969.

Fine copy in the original slipcase. This limited edition is printed on fine handmade paper with... More

1, 6, 11, 47 folding leaves. Large 8vo, orig. yellow patterned wrappers (wrappers a little soiled), orig. block-printed title label on upper cover, new stitching. [Korea: 1870s].

First edition of this rare anonymous manual for the general education of writers of classical Chinese from late Chosŏn Korea. The term “bamboo slips” originally referred to the material supports of writing in antiquity. In classical Chinese usage of later ages — and in this title — the phrase was used metonymically in reference to the implements and genres of classical Chinese writing.

This book covers the four “rites” of capping, marriage, funerals... More