This beautiful book was found in our first search through materials with traditional East Asian binding.  (Although this one has a different style than the the majority of our string binding.)  Fortunately, the item, published in 1936, and its case are in great condition, not marred by insect or other damage.  This book consists of a number of Buddhist prayers and incantations, and includes text in Chinese and Tibetan, as well as sections where the Tibetan pronunciation is shown in a romanized form.

The record for this item was one of the very first that I enhanced—adding subject headings and a call number, as well as notes detailing the contents (in vernacular and roman scripts), language information, etc—for this project.  Larry Epstein, retired professor of anthropology at UW,  graciously transcribed the Tibetan title, and spotted several typos in it.  (With such a gorgeous cover, what a shame that it should have typos!)

OCLC WorldCat shows only one other holding for this book—truly, a treasure!

—Emily

This book, although not particularly old or rare, was one of my personal favorites.  It contained two stories:  送茶壶 (roughly, “Delivering a pot of tea”), and 送雨衣 (“Delivering a raincoat”).  In both, good patriotic children bring the titular items to Chinese soldiers.  In the first, a young girl and her auntie bring tea to a grateful group of soldiers (patriotically) working out in the fields.  In the second, a little boy and girl walking home in the rain come across a soldier whose motorbike has broken down; the girl holds her umbrella over the man, while the boy runs away (?!)—only to return shortly with the rainslicker that he proudly gives to the soldier.

The book measures only 13 cm tall.  Each page is illustrated in vivid, full color (which is also an enchanting change of pace from the vast majority of the materials).  Moreover, having been published in 1973 in Beijing, it provides a very interesting window on attitudes and behavior (and also fashion) of the time.  According to OCLC Worldcat data, the book is held by only three other U.S. institutions, and to me it was a very enjoyable and interesting find.

—Emily