Beschreibung:

ZUOQIU, Ming (5th century B.C., attributed to). Guoyu [in Korean: Kugo ]. [Seoul: Royal Government Publications Office, c.1434-38]. Volume 1 (of 21), 2° (375 x 223mm). 32 sheets of Korean paper, printed on one side only, 10 columns of 18 characters to the page, double line edge (outer thicker, inner thinner), solid fishtail folding guide, pronunciation guides printed on black ground. Inserted at the front are 2 leaves written in Chinese in a later cursive hand, the first leaf containing a 4-line, 7-character pastoral poem in Chinese. (Stained, paper weakness in first 4 sheets resulting in small tears with slight loss, 2 sheets reinforced on verso, upper corners slightly worn, most sheets separated at fore-edge fold.) Early, probably original, Korean pressed oiled paper wrappers with floral motif affixed with cord dyed pink through five holes at spine (repaired, rear wrapper reinforced, backing possibly removed, cord replaced), modern Korean-style pawlonia wood box. Provenance : early brush-strokes marking passages -- Lee Gyum Ro, rare book dealer at Seoul (Korean inscription at end, signed with his chop in red: 'This book T'ang Liu Sien Sheng Tsi was printed from Kabin-ja type in the reign of King Sejong', signed with the name of his shop, 'Tong Moon Kwan', and his chop; accompanying letter of authenticity, sold in 1961 to:] -- Melvin McGovern (American authority on Korean printing, with his letter of authenticity, on his death the book passed to his widow). A RARE EXAMPLE OF KOREAN TYPOGRAPHY, PREDATING GUTENBERG. While Gutenberg is independently credited with the invention of printing, i.e. casting movable metal type by means of punches and matrices and developing a press for typographical printing, an earlier method of casting and printing with movable metal type was discovered in Korea half a century before Gutenberg which continued in use for over 500 years. Printing by various means began significantly earlier in Asia than in Europe. Woodblock printing was practiced there from at least the 8th century (a Dharani Sutra , dated to before c.751 and considered to be the world's earliest extant example of (woodblock) printing, was discovered at Pulguk Temple, Kyongju Province in Korea in 1966); experiments with printing from clay type by a 12th-century Chinese commoner, Bi Sheng, are recorded; and wood-type editions have been dated to the 12th century. The exact origins of casting movable metal type in Asia are keenly contested by Chinese and Korean printing historians, but it is known that printing with metal type was practiced in Korea from the early 13th century, first at Buddhist temples where metalwork skills were applied to the craft of type-casting. The earliest extant example of a Korean typographical edition is the Chikchi simch'e yojol , preserved at Paris in the Bibliothèque nationale; it was printed in 1377 at Hungdok temple. The systematic production of typographical editions was refined at the beginning of the 15th century under the enlightened third and fourth kings of the Yi Dynasty, when it formed part of their programme to ensure that Koreans were well read in the great literature of classical China. It was an ambitious programme instituted by King T'aejong and embraced by his successor, King Sejong. To implement his programme T'aejong established a Bureau of Type-casting charged with the casting of type and printing of typographical editions for distribution to government officials and scholars and ordered a fount to be cast in 1403. It was produced by sandcasting, and type-pages were composed by setting individual types in a tray, fixing their pointed ends into a beeswax base. The type often came loose from the beeswax, however, hindering production, and it fell to T'aejong's successor, King Sejong, to seek superior types and method of printing. T'aejong's type was followed by a second metal type, called Kyongja-Ja, ordered by Sejong in 1420. It was smaller, neater, and had a flat heel which facilitated