Asian Works of Art

Four thread binding volumes in one yellow brocade case; the title slips of the case and both volumes are by Yu Fei'an.

In 1633, the Chinese artist, calligrapher, seal-carver, publisher, and bookseller Hu Zhengyan issued the Shi zhu zhai shu hua pu (Ten Bamboo Studio Collection of Calligraphy and Painting) from his Ten Bamboo Studio in Nanjing. Developed and printed over more than a decade, from 1619 to 1633, the work brought together contributions from fifty artists and calligraphers. Organized into eight categories—birds, plums, orchids, bamboo, fruit, stones, ink drawings, and various other subjects—it paired vibrant illustrations with accompanying texts or poems. Remarkably, it was the earliest painting manual in China to be printed in color and the first to present isolated depictions of natural subjects.

The Ten Bamboo Studio Collection was reprinted and reissued for at least two centuries, leaving behind a complex and layered bibliographic history. A complete copy resurfaced in the 1930s, and in the 1940s, the entire work was recut. The present edition, a 1952 reprint of that recut, was later praised by the renowned typographer Jan Tschichold in 1970 as “an incomparably perfect facsimile; the best book of modern times anywhere.”

《十竹齋箋譜》最初為1633年胡正言編印，集晚明代繪畫、雕刻、印刷絕技術於一身。出版後風靡一時，但流傳至今，完整的只有十餘部。較有名的幾部有：收藏家王孝慈曾以八百銀元從琉璃廠古書肆購入一部，1936年去世後，家人將箋譜轉讓給北平圖書館，現存國家圖書館。藏書大家陶湘藏有一部，後售於日本文求堂。另一藏書大家上海狄楚青亦藏有一部。最近較有名的當屬2014年洛杉磯Hungtington圖書購得的一部。最有名的莫過鄭振鐸經傳新書店徐紹樵介紹購得的一部。

鄭購得之前，得知王孝慈藏有一部，因其珍稀罕見，遂與魯迅商量重印，1934年經趙斐雲幫助，得王同意，借出箋譜，交予榮寶齋，要求用餖版和拱花技術仿原件複製。歷時七載，於1941年夏重刻完成，然此時魯迅與王孝慈均已下世。

又八年，新中國成立，榮寶齋更名榮寶齋新記，因1941年出版的首次重刻本已不可得見，欲再版。按鄭振鐸從徐紹樵處購得的版本，增加第一次重刻所缺之頁，予以補刻，終於1952年7月完成，也就是本次上拍的這版。于非闇题签，织锦函套，藍灑金封面，共計四冊。