Chinese Works : Zheng tang du shu ji

Chinese Works

<p style='text-align: justify;'>The early invention and widespread use of printing in China meant that many works appeared in print soon after having been written, and therefore it is rare for the author's original manuscript to survive.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The item shown here is such a rare survival. The work is a bibliographical treatise, which was first published in a xylographic edition in 1929, more than a century after the death of the author.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>This is the copy which was used to prepare the printed edition, and contains the ownership seal of a famous bibliophile who was also responsible for its publication.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The manuscript is written in a very cursive hand, and comparison of it with the printed version reveals useful information about the publishing process.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>This item was acquired in China by Professor Gustav Haloun during a book-buying expedition to China which he made on behalf of the Library in 1949. The original bookseller's shop details are still preserved inside this fascicle, the first in a set of thirty-four.</p>