The Couling-Chalfant Collection of Inscribed Oracle Bone; Seven Collections of Inscribed Oracle Bone; The Hopkins Collection of Inscribed Oracle Bone
The Couling-Chalfant Collection of Inscribed Oracle Bone. Shanghai: The Commercial Press, 1935. 4to. [10], 132 pp. Addendum sheet tipped to ffep. Illustrations throughout. Faded blue wrappers, bound in the Chinese style; cream printed title label on front cover (in English and Chinese). Wear along edges; light foxing on page edges; a very good copy. Seven Collections of Inscribed Oracle Bone (SIGNED by Roswell Britton). New York: [Printed by General Offset Co., for the Chalfant publication fund], 1938. 4to. Pages 1-4; 32 illustrated plates; Page 5. Stiff blue wrappers in fine condition (light fading to covers). The Hopkins Collection of Inscribed Oracle Bone. New York: [Printed by General Offset Co., for the Chalfant publication fund], 1939. 4to. [4] pp; 66 illustrated plates. Stiff blue wrappers in fine condition (light fading to covers). Oracle bones are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron, which were used for pyromancy – a form of divination – in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. The first Western collector of such bones was the American missionary Frank H. Chalfant (1862–1914) and also the first to coin the term "oracle bone" in his 1906 book "Early Chinese Writing". The Couling-Chalfant was collected by Samuel Couling and Frank Chalfant during the years 1904 - 1908 in Shautung, most likely from Yin Hsu, the site of the latter capital of the Shang Kingom. The oracle bones illustrated in these three titles are now divided between the British Museum, the Field Museum of Chicago, the Royal Scottish Museum, and the Carnegie Museum. Item #21372
Price: $500.00