{"id":88731,"date":"2015-08-11T18:41:55","date_gmt":"2015-08-11T22:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=88731"},"modified":"2015-08-11T18:41:55","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T22:41:55","slug":"the-joys-of-polychrome-xylography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/08\/11\/the-joys-of-polychrome-xylography\/","title":{"rendered":"The Joys of Polychrome Xylography"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"calligraphy5\"<\/a>

All images via Cambridge University Library<\/p><\/div>\n

Among the selections recently added to Cambridge\u2019s Digital Library<\/a> is Shi zhu zhai shu hua pu<\/em>, or Manual of Calligraphy and Painting<\/a><\/em>, a seventeenth-century Chinese book by the Ten Bamboo Studio, based in Nanjing. First published in 1633, it\u2019s believed to be the earliest surviving example of multicolor printing\u2014specifically, of a woodcut technique known as douban <\/em>in which inks of varying colors are applied in succession, giving the finished print\u00a0the look of a hand-painted watercolor.<\/p>\n

The book\u2019s butterfly binding\u2014an early Chinese process in which the pages are printed on only one side, and then pasted together and folded\u2014made it so fragile that the university forbade anyone to open it until it had been digitized. It comprises eight sections: birds, plums, orchids, bamboos, fruit, stones, ink drawings, and (that perennial favorite) miscellany. You can see some of the woodcuts below, and read more about the book at Hyperallergic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"calligraphy4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"calligraphy6\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"cambridgecalligraphy3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"cambridgecalligraphy1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"cambridgecalligraphy11\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among the selections recently added to Cambridge\u2019s Digital Library is Shi zhu zhai shu hua pu, or Manual of Calligraphy and Painting, a seventeenth-century Chinese book by the Ten Bamboo Studio, based in Nanjing. First published in 1633, it\u2019s believed to be the earliest surviving example of multicolor printing\u2014specifically, of a woodcut technique known as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2384],"tags":[18188,19117,4785,1815,19116,19118,8076,1064],"class_list":["post-88731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-look","tag-bookbinding","tag-butterfly-binding","tag-calligraphy","tag-china","tag-early-books","tag-polychrome-xylography","tag-printing","tag-woodcuts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe World\u2019s First Multicolor-Printed Book, from 1633<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"August 11, 2015 \u2013 Among the selections recently added to Cambridge\u2019s Digital Library is Shi zhu zhai shu hua pu, or Manual of Calligraphy and Painting, a\" \/>\n<meta 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