Sipchil sachan gogeum tongyo (Essentials of Seventeen Dynastic Histories), Volume 16

A book compiled by Hu Tingfang, a scholar active at the end of Song and the beginning of Yuan, who selected and summarised the important facts of the seventeen official histories of China, from the Shiji and the Hanshu to the Five Dynasties, and added his own comments. The Kyujanggak copy is an incomplete set, only the single book of volume 16, the part covering the Tang history. It was printed in Gyemija, the type cast in 1403, the third year of King Taejong, and is thought to have been printed and issued around 1412, the twelfth year of his reign. It measures 18.7 cm by 25.6 cm. It originally had 37 leaves, but leaves 26, 27 and 28 are now missing, and the paper is so worn that characters cannot be read in places. The original cover is also badly damaged, so a yellow cloth cover was put over it and reinforced with red cotton. In early Joseon, when it was printed, printing had not yet passed its first stage, and a day's output was only a few leaves. Printed under those conditions in Gyemija, the first bronze type cast in Joseon, it has considerable value, and it is recognised as a very precious source for the history of type-casting and typesetting in Goryeo and early Joseon.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gwanak-gu, Seoul

Designation

National Treasure · 국보