8 results
The Zhaocheng Jin Tripitaka
This edition of the Buddhist canon was printed between about the ninth year of the Huangtong era of Xizong of the Jin dynasty and sometime in the Dading era of Shizong, and for this reason is called the "Jin Tripitaka" by scholars. It is also called the “Jin Tripitaka from Tianning Temple in Xiezhou" because the woodblocks were carved at Tianning Temple on Jinglin Mountain, in Xiezhou, Shanxi (modern Xie County in the Jinnan district). In 1933, the work was rediscovered at Guangsheng Temple in Zhaocheng County, Shanxi, so its ...
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National Library of China
Collected Works of Han Yu
Han Yu is chief among the eight major writers of the Tang and Song dynasties. His writings are rich in content, powerful, fresh, and lively. The 40-juan (section) Collected Works of Han Yu (Changli xiansheng ji [Collected works of the Master from Changli]) was compiled by his disciple Li Han, and is the most comprehensive compendium of Han Yu’s works. The “Outer Collection” and “Omitted Writings” were added by Song dynasty scholars who recovered lost works by Han. This edition was printed in the Jianchun era (late 13th ...
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National Library of China
The Heroic Life of Sir Theuerdank
Among the many endeavors undertaken by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519) to further his legacy was his plan of an epic retelling of his own life story in the form of several works. Of these, only Die geuerlicheiten vnd einsteils der geschichten des loblichen streytparen vnd hochberümbten helds vnd Ritters herr Tewrdannckhs (The heroic life of Sir Theuerdank) was finished. Johann Schönsperger, a printer in Nuremberg, did the first, very small print run in 1517, to be delivered to other princes and sovereigns after the Emperor's ...
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Bavarian State Library
Art of Dying
Block books are slim volumes, typically comprising 20 to 50 pages, produced by cutting text and images into wooden blocks (a process known as xylography). The production of block books reached its peak at a time when printing with metal letters (moveable type) was already established, around the 1460s–1470s. Worldwide only about 600 block book copies have survived, and they are among the rarest and most precious products of the printing press. The Bavarian State Library holds 40 of these books and eight fragments. Only a limited number of ...
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Bavarian State Library
The Dance of Death
Block books are slim volumes, typically comprising 20 to 50 pages, produced by cutting text and images into wooden blocks (a process known as xylography). The production of block books reached its peak at a time when printing with metal letters (moveable type) was already established, around the 1460s–1470s. Worldwide only about 600 block book copies have survived, and they are among the rarest and most precious products of the printing press. The Bavarian State Library holds 40 of these books and eight fragments. Totentanz (The dance of death ...
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Bavarian State Library
Map of Bushū Toshima District, Edo
This work is a reprint of a cadastral map, originally produced around 1630–31, showing land ownership in central Edo (Tokyo). The original map is considered the oldest and most accurate extant plan of the city, and multiple reproductions of it were made until the end of the Edo period (1603–1868). The map has several defining features, one of which is that all text labels read in the same direction, in the style of modern maps. It also includes pictorial representations of significant areas such as Edo Castle, the ...
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Library of Congress
Map of Coastal Defense
In 1853, Commodore Matthew C. Perry of the United States Navy entered the port of Yokohama near Edo (Tokyo) with an intimidating fleet of steam warships. His objective was to open Japan’s doors to trade after nearly two centuries of restricted contact with the outside world. Perry’s visit prompted the Edo shogunate to reconsider, with feudal lords in the area, the method of coastal protection and to order the construction of forts around present-day Tokyo Bay. This okatame (coastal defense) map depicts the system of defense as it ...
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Library of Congress
View of Entire Suruga Region
This map of Suruga Province, located in the area of today’s Shizuoka Prefecture, presents an elevation view of Mount Fuji, with the surrounding area mapped on a horizontal surface with relief shown pictorially. This style does not provide accurate geographical information, but it was typical of the mid-19th century. The mountain is drawn disproportionately large, suggesting the impression it made on the mapmaker and the significance it held for the populace. The map notes the names of towns and roads; temples and shrines; and ancient castles, forts, and battlefields ...
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Library of Congress