Printed Texts - David Edwards

 

The oldest movable metal type book 


Known as the Oldest movable metal book type, Jikji was published in 1377 at Heungdeoksa, Cheongju-mok. The purpose of Jikji was to help teach students of Buddhism by combining the teachings of the most popular Buddhist monks over the years. Originally the book was published in two volumes, but later were separated and now only 38 sheets of the second volume are still in existence. Collin de Plancy who was a French diplomat and art collector first showed Jikji to the public in 1900 at the Paris Exposition and later donated it to the National Library of France where it still is to this day.


Chong kan Tian wen mi lüe : yi juan


Text, letter

Description automatically generated

 

The Chong kan Tian wen mi lüe : yi juan is a rare book that contains celestial maps and information about astronomy of the time (Shaoshu et al., 1615). Originally published in China Ming Wanli 43 nian, 1615, this rare example of a Chinese book is now housed in the Library of Congress and can be viewed digitally on their website. This collection gives us a view into pre-modern China. It is significant today because it gives us a look into not only astronomy of the time but how knowledge was communicated. 


Arrival of the first newspapers

This is a photograph of the first newspapers to be transported by air to Normanton, Australia on July 1st 1927. Looking at the photograph the viewer can see that this was an important event for the time. The newspaper was flown on a DH 50 aircraft which was built by Qantas (1927). This is significant because it opened current news and world events to areas that might have been limited to older or slower forms of communication.

The photograph is part of the E.A.Crome collection that focuses on aviation in Australia at the National Library of Australia (1927). If it wasn't for photographs like this we would not have such a detailed look at this milestone in aviation as well as newspaper history.    




References 

 (1927).  Arrival of the first newspapers to go by air to Normanton, aircraft was a Perseus, a DH 50 built by Qantas at Longreach, 1 July 1927http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-144684965

Hu, X., Zhou, Y., Xie, C., Dong, S. & Chinese Rare Book Collection. (1615) Chong kan Tian wen mi lüe: yi juan. [China: s.n., Ming Wanli 43 nian] [Image] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2012402803/.

Jikji. (1377). The oldest movable metal type book [Photograph]. Jikji Early Printing Museum. https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/the-invention-of-movable-metal-type-goryeo-technology-and-wisdom/jQLywilonG6kIg



Comments