Seven complete copies of the Chinese literary classic Encyclopedia Sinica (Si Ku Quan Shu) carrying real imperial seals of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) will be auctioned off around the world.
It took four years using traditional thread-binding methods to produce the copies of China’s magnum opus, Palace Museum experts in Beijing said.
Xinhuanet article contains fascinating details on how the paper and ink were made and how the texts were printed and bound, in addition to how the information was compiled, and the fact that some information (certain scholars thought to be overly critical of the Qing) intentionally omitted.
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