(ASIAN BOOK LEAVES.) Examples of Oriental Calligraphy and Printing. Assortment of 16 manuscript and printed leaves with printed explanatory slips pasted on. Cloth-backed plain portfolio boards with printed paper label to upper cover, spine deteriorated but holding; specimens in original glassine envelopes, aged condition as compiled. New York: Orientalia, Inc., 1920s [compiled] 14th-19th century; each leaf as labeled by the compiler and not independently confirmed:
- Leaf from a rare vellum Arabic manuscript of the 14th Century, expounding Muhammadan doctrine.
- Leaf from a manuscript Koran of the 17th Century. The calligraphy is regarded as unusually fine.
- Leaf from an old 3 volume Japanese work on Buddhism containing ceremonial and symbolic illustrations. Dated 1675.
- Leaf from a six volume Chinese medical work of the 17th Century.
- Leaf from the Saddharmapundarika, the text of Kumarajiva, in Chinese, copied by a Japanese priest named Joyen in 1834.
- Double leaf from a Chinese Buddhist work expounding the Sanskrit Scriptures. Probably 18th Century.
- Leaves from Robert Morrison's copy of "Descrition Geographique, Historique, Chronologique, Politique, et Physique de l'Empire de la Chine et de la Taratrie Chinoise", by the famous Jesuit missionary, Du Halde. Published at the Hague, 1736.
- A printed page from a Japanese book, undated, but probably 18th Century. A popular edition of the Genji Monogatari, Japan's first novel, whose author, Muraski no Shikibu, is compared to the English Novelist, Richardson.
- Leaf from a Javanese rubricated manuscript of the early 19th Century giving the history of Rama (differing from the usual version). Although Muhammadanism is now the nominal religion of Java the myths and traditions of Hinduism have by no means been discarded. On the contrary Indian gods and heroes form the dominant theme in Javanese literature, drama and fold tales to the present day.
- Leaf from a manuscript book of miscellaneous information compiled by a devout Japanese Buddhist. Seventeenth Century. Note that the thrifty scribe has written on the reverse side of paper already used.
- Leaf of a Taliput manuscript in Tamil, from a Buddhist temple in Ceylon. Probably 18th Century. In India, Ceylon and Burma the leaves of the Taliput palm are used like Papyrus in Egypt. If the characters become indistinct rub lamp black into them with the finger, afterwards wiping off the surface of the leaf with a damp cloth.
- Leaf from Indian religious manuscript containing extracts from the Puranas, in Sanskrit. 18th Century.
- Leaf from a fine Sanskrit MS copy of the Puranas. Eighteenth Century. Note the precise characters and the regularity of the page.
- A leaf from a Turkish work, (Hadji Khalifa), printed in Constantinople in 1733. Note that the borders are done by hand.
- Buddhist prayer sheet in Manchu characters brought to this country by a traveller from Mongolia.
- Double leaf from an old book (probably 18th Century) in Chinese characters, printed in Korea. Contains Buddhist Scriptures as interpreted by the Syen sect.