SHI ZHU ZHAI JIAN PU (TEN BAMBOO STUDIO CATALOGUE OF LETTER PAPER)Rongbaozhai, Beijing, 1952 Woodblock prints, ink and color on paper, some leaves embossed, four volumes, in a clothbound slipcase. 12 3/8in (31.5cm) high 北京榮寶齋 胡正言《十竹齋箋譜》 雕版印刷 四卷 一九五二年出版 This collection of decorated letter papers was originallypiled by the late-Ming period seal carver Hu Zhengyan (1584-1674), and re-issued by Zheng Zhenduo in the 1930's. Offered here, the Rongbaozhai 1952 reprint is a faithful facsimile of the seventeenth century edition, even incorporating the blind-stamping technique of gauffrage (gonghua 拱花 "embossed design" or "arched pattern") where a dry woodblock is pressed into the paper to create a subtle, low-relief design. On the 1952 Rongbaozhai edition, Jan Tschichold remarked "the finest issue. An iparably perfect facsimile; the best printed book of modern times anywhere." Another copy of the collection of letter paper reprinted by Rongbaozhai in 1952 is in the collection of the British Museum, Registration no. 1984,0203,0.55.1-4.