Asian History

London: John Murray, 1818:. First edition, 8 plates including 6 coloured, 5 engraved maps mainly folding, worn cloth, loose leaves at front. Marvellous account of expedition to little known East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. Visits were made to Korea and the Ryukyu Archipelago and this book is usually priced at £2-3000 .

Paris: Louis-Michaud. Very Good. 1923. First Edition. Hardcover. Volume #1 only. History of a Mission in Beijing. Clean blue cloth has gilt title on spine. Text tight, clean & intact. Original soft cover volume is bound in hard cover. Page edges are lightly age toned. Some uncut pages. B/W illustrations. Volume #2 privately published in 1926, Vincentian to the Boxer Rebellion. Vol. #1, dealing with the origins to the suppression of the Society of Jesus and the arrival of the Vincentians, (1773-1785) . French text. China; B/W Illustrations.; 4to 11" - 13" tall; 461 pages .

1710 Samurai Daimyo Lord Toyotomi Hideyoshi Handwritten Japanese Illustrated Set

A rare, 18th century Japanese woodblock print of "Taikouki". Taikouki is a biography describing the life of Taihe Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a Japanese samurai and daimyo (lord) considered the second "Great Unifier" of Japan following Nobunaga and preceding the Tokugawa Shogunate. Hideyoshi left a lasting legacy including Osaka Castle, the Tokugawa class systems, the restriction of weapons, and the construction and restoration of many temples some of which are still visible in Kyoto.

This rare, handwritten biography is written in a column handwritten format with furigana for easier reading and includes illustrations of samurai battles, beheadings, monks, court meetings, scenery and more!

Item number: #15409
Price: $950
Izumoji Izuminojyou

Biography of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Eiri Taikouki) 太閤記（えいりたいこうき）
[Japan: [1710]]

Details:
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Collation: Complete with all pages; 8 tomes (16 volumes)
o… Read More

1721 Japanese Samurai Sword Katana Arami Meizukushi Illustrated New Blades RARE

An interesting Edo and Meiji woodblock-print of 'New Blades.' This collection is the stamping of amateur warriors' blades and polishers throughout the Edo period and is equivalent to the sword of the Meiji era and later called "modern sword.". It follows up on the older collections of blade writings which summarized the accumulated knowledge of amateur warriors' blades and polishers throughout the Muromachi period. After the battle of Sekigahara in Keicho 4 (AD 1599), the Tokugawa shogunate opened and war ended, demand and production methods for swords changed, and later works came to be called "new swords." This 'New Blades' book includes information on large and small swords, knives, tools for forgings, polishing, and repairing, as well as stamps of sword makers and the illustrious line patterns between the edge and spine called the Hamon.
This rare 1721 edition is written in a column handwritten format with furigana… Read More

Beautés de l'histoire de Turquie comprenant les faits les plus remarquables de l'histoire musulmane, depuis Mahomet, les califes, ses successeurs, et les souverains de l'empire Ottoman jusqu'à nos jours.
By: J. R. Durdent (Beauties of the history of Turkey, including the most remarkable facts of Muslim history since Muhammad, caliphs, successors, and rulers of the Ottoman Empire to the present day).
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In the French language.
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2nd Edition. Paris, Alexis Eymery education library, 1818.
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Pp. 467 + 6 l. with 6 engravings.
Size: 17 x 10 cm.
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Provenance: Stamped signature of the editor. Stamped ex libris of the library of Joca Vujic, one of the greatest Serbian collectors.
Binding: Original full leather binding, the surface of cover little worn and damaged, top right side of spine partly separated from cover, bumped edges. Condition: Signs of paper aging, last blank fly leaf missing.DHL shipping included. If you have any additional questions, we are eager to answer them.

1845 Jade Records Tales Leadership Japanese Samurai Weapons Illustrated Swords

A rare, 19th century Japanese woodblock print of "Tales of Leadership" written by Nobumitsu.
Nobumitsu Kurihara studied the Chinese classics under Ritsuzan Shibano, the Japanese classics under Koken Yashiro, and the ancient practices under the Ise family focusing on subjects of the history of ancient times, swords and military uniforms.

This rare, record is written in a column woodblock print format with furigana for easier reading with numerous illustrations of famous leaders, samurai, weaponry, city maps, and more!

Item number: #16217
Price: $750
NOBUMITSU Kurihara

Jade Records Tales of Leadership (Shinshin Shuzo Gyokuseki Zasshi) 先進繍像玉石雑誌
Ōsaka: Kibe Sobaya, Kouka 2 [1845]

Details:
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Collation: Complete with all pages; 5 volumes
o Illustrated throughout
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References: Iwanami, Kokusho So Mokuroku 157211; Waseda E1217;

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Language: Japanese
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Binding:… Read More

London: Grolier Society 1906, 1907, Baroda edition. (Hardcover set) Good. Marbled boards over 3 / 4 black leather with gilt decorated spines. Marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, color frontispieces with tissue-guards, illustrations throughout, index. Some boards scuffed, worn at the spines with some damage. Internally clean and bright. Vol. 1 Romesh Chunder Dutt (From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century, B.C.). Vol. 2 Vincent A. Smith (From the Sixth Century, B.C. To the Mohammedan Conquest, Including the Invasion of Alexander the Great). Vol. 3 Lane-Poole, Stanley (Medieval India from the Mohammedan Conquest to the Reign of Alexander the Great). Vol. 4 Stanley Lane-Poole (Medieval India from the Mohammedan Conquest to the Reign of Alexander the Great). Vol. 5 Henry Miers Elliot (The Mohammedan Period As Described by its Own Historians). Vol. 6 William Wilson Hunter (From the First European Settlements to the Founding of the English East India Company). Vol. 7 William Wilson Hunter (From the… Read More

1877 Japanese Woodblock Samurai History Nihon Gaishi Tokugawa Shogunate 22v RARE

An interesting Edo woodblock-print of 'Nihon Gaishi,' a 19th-century book on the history of Japan by Rai San'yo, a confucianist philosopher, historian, and poet of the Edo era. This edition was edited by Jiro Yorimata, the original author's second son The whole work of 'Nihon Gaishi' was the first comprehensive study of samurai history, covering Japanese history, from the emergence of the Minamoto clan and the Genpei War, through to the reign of Tokugawa Iemitsu in the Edo era. His history was later banned in several provinces because it encouraged strengthening the authority of the emperor and was a major influence on the Sonnō jōi movement, a movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate during the Bakumatsu period. It became part of the private studies of Chinese people in meiji Japan and in their curricula became one of the most read history books from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji era. (Mehl)
This rare… Read More

The first Western edition of Confucius
Confucius Sinarum Philosophus sive Scientia Sinensis Latine Exposita
Philippe Couplet, Prospero Intorcetta, Chrétien Herdtrich, François de Rougemont
Paris, 1687
First Edition. Folio(34 x 21.5 cm.) i-viii, 1-108, 1-21, blank leaf, 1-159, 1-8, ix-cxxiv, i-xx, 1-106, map leaf, 105-108, colophon leaf. With two full-page engraved plates: a portrait of Confucius and Couplet's map of China.
Textblock with some mild browning and light sporadic stains, repaired contemporary vellum. An attractive, Near Fine copy of a really important book.
"The first widely accessible Latin translation of three of the four Confucian classics, The Daxue(The Great Learning), Lunyu(The Analects), and The Zhongyong(The Doctrine of the Mean), as well as a biographical sketch of Confucius…This seminal work was the culmination of a century of Jesuit attempts to translate and interpret the Confucian classics. The bulk of this collective work was composed in China under the leadership of the… Read More

LIU SHAO-CH'I. Quotations from President Liu Shao-Ch'i. With an introduction by C P FitzGerald. Melbourne: Paul Flesch & Co., 1968. Photographic portrait frontispiece of Liu Shao-Ch'i, also a facsimile of President Liu's calligraphy. Small 16mo, 223pp + colophon; yellow vinyl lettered in black on front cover and spine, original stiff paper band wrapped around lower binding which has caused small offset of red coloring. Nevertheless, a fine copy. First edition thus, clearly an imitation of Chairman Mao's 1964/65 Mao Zhu XI Yu Lu (Quotations of Chairman Mao.) issued by the Central Intelligence Bureau of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The color yellow is intended to represent the warmth and sunshine under the regime of President Liu. By 1968 it was estimated that over 700 million copies of Mao's "Little Red Book" had been printed/distributed. It is believed that the Cultural Revolution began in response to criticism Mao experienced from President Liu; subsequently Liu was condemned,… Read More

Nagasaki, 1828. folded sheet printed on both sides. 32 x 91 cm (12½ x 35¾"). very good. One folded sheet printed on both sides. 32 x 91 cm (12½ x 35¾"). OCLC World/Cat cites only one copy, held at Indiana University. A chronological table of events in Nagasaki from 1570 to the year of publication. Light wear with minor creasing, small pinhole at lower left corner; near fine. Ships from Hawaii with free Priority Mail upgrade wordwide.

1852 History of CHINA & INDIA Sears Hindu Chinese Superstitions MAPS Turks
Robert Sears' "Pictorial History of China and India" is a mid-19th-century account of China and India, focusing on geography, politics, and topography. Sears gives a thorough description of Chinese monarchies, the foundation of the Han Dynasty, important contributions and inventions (such as paper), costumes, superstitions, and the rise of the Moguls, the Ming Dynasty, and opium trafficking.
The second half of the work, dedicated to the history of India, gives details on the Hindu religion, Turkish and Mogul conquests in India, Sikh wars, and the rise of the British government in India. It should be noted that this work is abundantly illustrated with over 200 engravings as well as two folding maps.
Item number: #17811
Price: $499
SEARS, Robert
Pictorial history of China and India; comprising a description of those countries and their inhabitants from the earliest period of authentic record, to the present time.
New York: R.… Read More

London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1884. First Edition. First English book on Oriental rugs. Octavo, 11 lithographic plates including frontispiece, one in colour, folding map, four pages of publishers' advertisements; bound in olive green cloth, gilt-decorated pictorial boards with black lettering, an excellent copy of the first edition.

The Easton Press, 1988. The Leather-Bound Library of American History. First Thus; Collector's Edition. Hardcover. Issued without dust jacket. Fine, Like New condition. Appears unopened / unread. Binding and text block are tight, bright, and clean with no ownership markings or bookplates. Bound in full (genuine) gray leather with hubbed spine. Embossed in 22kt gold on the spine and front and back covers. Heavy duty binding boards. Printed on acid-neutral, archival paper. All edges gilt. Smyth sewn with concealed muslin joints and permanent satin ribbon marker. Notes from History sheet laid in. Photo is of the copy we have at Barbed Wire Books. A beautiful copy.

1876 CHINA Social Life of Chinese Doolittle Fuzhou Fujian Fuhchau Opium 2in1
A scarce 19th-century printing of Justus Doolittle's 'Social Life of the Chinese.' Fourteen years a missionary, author Justus Doolittle presents an exhaustive exploration of Chinese culture and customs. Contents include his missionary endeavors, agricultural and domestic matters, marriage, parenting, local superstition, Chinese traditional medicine, opium dens, wine clubs, death and burial rites, ancestral worship, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, government structure and practices, literature, calligraphy, festivals, business practices and much more!
Item number: #40267
Price: $499
DOOLITTLE, Justus
Social Life of the Chinese: with some account of their religious, governmental, educational, and business customs and opinions. With special but not exclusive reference to Fuhchau.
New York: Harper and Brothers, 1876.

Details:
· Collation: Complete; 2 volumes in 1
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Vol. I – xxxiv, [17]-459, [1]
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Vol. II – [2],… Read More