Rare Books

The University has a number of rare European books on China which are discussed in detail (including call numbers for the books) in the following catalogue: East and West: Europe's Discovery of China and China's response to Europe, 1511-1839; a Checklist of the Exhibition, Compiled by Howard C. Rice, Jr. and Others. (Princeton: The Library, 1957) [(ExB) 0639.739 no. 22] [full text] .

Also to be noted is the article by George R. Loehr in the Princeton University Library Chronicle XV, 4 (Summer, 1954) pp. 179-193 [full text] , the subject of which is the following book: A.E. van Braam Houckgeest. Voyage de l'Ambassade de la Compagnies des Indes Orientales Hollandaises vers l'Empereur de la Chine dans les années 1794 et 1795. [(Ex) 1722.206].

There is also considerable material on the so-called Chinese Rites Controversy.

Not to be overlooked are those in the East Asian Library and Gest Collection. For a description of the Gest Collection, see the following article based upon the exhibition "Eleven Centuries of Chinese Printing": Hu Shih, "The Gest Oriental Library at Princeton University" in the Princeton University Library ChronicleXV, 3 (Spring, 1954) pp. 113-41 [full text] .

Also see the 1987 exhibition catalogue The Book in Imperial China [(ExB) 0639.739 no. 50] [full text] . as well as the Gest Library Journal, 1986-1993, with a subsequent title change to the East Asian library journal. Issued by the Friends of the Gest Oriental Library.

See also the catalogue of Chinese rare books compiled by Ch'u Wan-li and published in 1974: A Catalogue of the Chinese Rare Books in the Gest Collection of the Princeton University Library. Compiled by Ch'u Wan-Li. (Taipei, Taiwan: Yee Wen Publishing Co., Ltd., 1974). The catalogue includes an English introduction detailing the development of the Gest Collection and the accession of the Chinese rare books. [(ExB) Z881.P942 G47].