Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1860-03-08
For the Republicap.
VI Inc hepupiicdu.
COLUMBUS, O., Feb. %, 1860,

| COLUMBUS, ". Leu. u, lSUU.
Mn. EDITOR: The H. r. was not in session
on Monday last, and being partially at leisure
l visited the State Library, and spent an hour
therein very agreeably. if not proftably. The
| Librarian, knowing me TO be sort of book
worm, kindly introduced rue TO small cabinet
of library curiosities in the shape of select
books from "the celestial empire of China
Let me attempt a brief and hasty description Of
few Of those which examined.
| The largest one in the collection is about the
size of the bound statutes of Ohio OF 1856; and
they are all in the form of our pamphlets, but
stitched together instead of being pasted. The
one alluded to, contains about two thousand
pages, or, one thousand leaves folded with the
| two edges of each leaf stitched into the back,
so that when the reader undertakes to read all
| on the two pages of the sheet thus doubled, he
has to press gently on the outer edge, and then
| the whole leaf is open to view in the form of a
roll. Only one side of the sheet is written up
on; the inner side being blank. all the leaves
| are of the texture of sheet of gold leaf and
equally as thin. The fabric of each book is
composed in very fine material-more so than
our finest biotting paper-yes, equal to coan
gauze or woven wind. The beginning and the
end of all these books is an illustration of "the
last shall be first and the first last"-alamode
the Hebrew. They differ. however, from the
|
ours end and end where ours begin. The Chinese
books are written or printed thus: the full sheet
is lined with black or white lines all round,
forming large square; and then the large
square is lined up and down or perpcndicularly.
leaving space of about a quarter of an inch
wide between every two lines. These spaces
contain the reading matter, and the reading
matter is made up with at least one thousand
characters, one above another, some expressing
a word, some sentence and others pal agraph;
there being no two alike! The reading of
sheet double page) begins at the foot of the
line on the right hand. thence up. then down
the next little column. and then up the next DC,
until the reader has passed through the whole
book from right TO left. Some of the lines con-
tain but n few characters from four or five down
to one only-and even that one (someimes in
the shape of miniature Italian harp) often ex-
presses more than long paragraph in one of
our books of common size; yea more than many
whole chapter in Tristram Shandy. The IT,
ties of all of them are written or printed on the
under side. or the right hand lid or covering
There is also another agreeable curiosity about
them. that is, their odor. Open one of them,
and hold it up close to ones nose, and the olfac-
tory nerves are regaled with IN odor somewhat
like that of clean dry oats straw permeated with
the essence of roses and jeranium leaves COM
bined. Some of them are black with white
characters, and tue reading matter of others is
In black characters on white surface or sheet.
But the most astonishing thing about them is.
That all these Chinese Books, as gotten up by
the native scholars of that country, are written
and not printcd-the printed ones being of
missionary art and mechanism And they are
very Light, the largest weighing not more than
hve ounces-say about quarter of pound
dozen Of them placed on the back of a flea on
marble floor would not embarrass or impede
lis l9comotiun, or prevent it from crawling from
under. lnclosed you will find fragment of
the covering of one of them in red. (You need
no; ask me how got it.)
| will now give you the names Of some of
them, and close my letter. "HoK SY Wal
KwAr," or Iastructiois for those uho ,cish official
Stdtions--1n 8 vols. Price for all only so els.
The God "Kwanti" "-in4 vols. ''Exortntion
TO good Works"-Lessons ON military tactics
One vol. adorned with figures. Of men in armor,
welding clubs. and bows and arrows, and each |
possessing n large metallic shield. Some of
the soldiers learning to box, in state OF nu-
dity! ......-.,, :, ~. .s..-ls i.r.-r
"San Shan Ki'-or History of the Deities
commonly vorshipped by the Chinese-in 3
vols-Price or cost of all IA centsl This book
contains many pictures. some representing hu-
man beings, some big bulls lions lynxes, ana
condss, lizards, DC.
"chinese Almanac for 1s59-Tbe calendar