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The publication of this collection of late Ming colour-printed erotica provides a scarce opportunity to acquire a work that discusses and reproduces nine extremely rare and finely-executed Chinese woodblock-printed volumes (plus one related Japanese work) dating from the early seventeenth century. The collection, once held by the Japanese scholar, Shibui Kiyoshi (1899-1992), was thought to be lost and its reappearance has caused great interest worldwide amongst the scholar and collecting community. Hitherto it has only been known by a few pages illustrated by Robert van Gulik in his works on sexual life in ancient China. The works are important in a number of areas including: Chinese social and sexual culture, the development of printing in China, and the design of Ming furniture, gardens and architecture. They are also testimony to the early evolution of colour printing in China and the subsequent nascence of, and their influence on, Japanese colour printing and the Ukiyo-e School of artists. It is undoubtedly the case that this work will be required by libraries and institutions worldwide. Similar interest is expected from scholars, collectors and bibliophiles. Its publication will prove of immense value for research purposes and the connoisseurship of a body of material that has never previously been presented in full. Published in a three-volume limited edition of 500 copies and produced to the highest standards. Volume One contains ten scholarly and erudite essays which give background, context and insights into these important editions. The erotic works are then illustrated in their entirety and original size in high-quality colour plates that allow full appreciation and study.

Erotic art --- Art, Chinese --- Von der Burg, Christer --- China --- History