Gu tao wen ni lu ("Records of Characters and Inscriptions on Ancient Pottery").

First edition, first printing, of this early contribution to Chinese palaeography. This catalogue of logographs found on Warring States pottery is an enduringly valuable record of the evolution of one of the world's oldest languages. Now rare, copies are found in only two institutional libraries worldwide (National Library of China and Bibliothèque Nationale de France). Gu Tinglong (1904-1998) was an eminent bibliographer and librarian who served as as the director of the Yenching Library between 1933 and 1939, before becoming director of the Shanghai Public Library. During the Sino-Japanese war and the Cultural Revolution, he saved tens of thousands of books and documents from destruction. Together with Gu Jiegang, he spent several decades examining the treasure trove of early manuscripts found at Dunhuang. In the late 1980s, he was one of the Chinese bibliographers appointed to advise on the creation of an international union catalogue of Chinese rare books. Octavo. Text in Chinese. Original blue wrappers, white thread xianzhuang stitching, front wrapper with woodblock calligraphic title label. With original blue cloth folding case, woodblock title label, bone toggles. Wrappers lightly rubbed, contents clean with just a little foxing: a near-fine copy in well-preserved case, small losses to title label, cloth sunned. …