SPECIMEN PAGES OF KOREAN MOVABLE TYPES: Collected and Described by Melvin McGovern
Los Angeles: Dawson's Book Shop, 1966. First Edition. Hardcover. Foreword by Kim Chewon, Director, National Museum of Korea. Los Angeles: Dawson's Book Shop, 1966. First edition, a limited edition of 300 copies, 95 of which (copies I-XCV) are the Primary Edition, the remaining are numbered 96 through 300. This is copy #167. It contains eleven original tipped-in specimens printed from movable type, dating from 1604 to 1858, and eleven facsimile specimen pages of movable type dating between 1420 and 1858. Regarded as tour de force of cultural and printing history. It not only portrays the development of movable type in Korea before Gutenberg but also serves as a catalog of movable type technology on the Korean peninsula over a period of over 400 years. Folio. The patterned yellow paper covering the boards was made by Kim Dong-kyu, the only man in the Republic of Korea who still worked at the craft at the time of publication. The traditional blocks used to create the paper are now substantially in museums and private collections. The boards and the white cloth spine with a gilt-stamped black cloth spine label are quite vibrant, and still protected by the original plain paper dust jacket and housed in the publisher's slipcase. Near fine. Near fine. Item #65007
Price: $4,000.00