Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-18
A RARE PUBLICATION
1.-THE JADE BOOK" GIVEN TO THE
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.

One of the rarest and most expensive pub
lications in the world has just been present.
ed to the Smithsonian. 1t is a copy of the
Jade Book, which cost SIGooo0 to print and
of which there have been but hundred
copies issued, two of which are for copy
right purposes in the Library OF Congress,
and the remaining ninety-eight for distrl-
button to the eminent scientific institutions
of TIE world.
To he sure there are a few books of the
same general sort so far as expense goes.
1t is said that j. Pierpont Morgan some
years ago had very high grade publishing
house in New York print him a copy Of the
book OF Common Prayer, of which there
Were only five copies issued. at cost of
5000. The type was afterward distributed
and there was no chance for any one else
to have duplicate. One of the copies of
the book was for Mr. Morgan, another for
Bishop Potter and the other three for prt-
vate distribution. There may be a good
many people who have little sympathy with
this sort of private munifcence. Mr.. Nor
gan's expenditure is not likely to do much
more good than the purchase of the same
number of 25-cent editions of the prayer
book which could have been made at any
stationery shop.
Every Phase of Research.
The publication of the Jade Book, whose
Plates were DIOht'ii up dlltI the NOih Nd@
done, may be subjected to something the
same sort. of criticism. But there is one
thing certain, and that is that If there is
any phase of research on Jade that the stu
dent wants to follow he will find it fully
worked out in the Jade Book the light
of present information permits
Mr. Heber Bishop was a very rich man.
He was orientalst and Interested In all
forms of eastern art. But between 1870
and 1880 he conceived especial fondness
for Jade. He found that some of the most
beautiful works of the east had been Nxe
cuted in this medium, and started out to
make an exhaustive study of the subject.
He found that there was little data accu
INFLATED, and he made the collection of ma
terial his especial hobby. At the time of
his death. couple of years ago, he mad
accumulated one of the finest collections of
jade in the world. and the Jade Book is a
monument to this patient collection and its
attendant research. Two of his grelteJt
assistants and intimate coworkers were
Geo. KuntZ of New York known all over
the world as a gem expert, and DR.. S. w.
BusheH of Pekin a profound orientaiist and
enthusiastic collector He had beside on his
regular staff about twenty five of the most
skllful artists, chemists and collectors and
hundreds of casual assistants and CORE
spondents. Mr.. Bishop led from one
phase of research to another, and the COM
pleted Jade Book deals with the historical
and NEUROLOGICAL aspect of the stone. Its
chemical composition this occurrence in
II,
uses. its carving, It's tensile strength, its
resonance. the occurrence of jade deposits,
and, IN fact. anything that the historian.
the litterateur, the chemist, geologist, lapi-
Diary collector or any other student would
want to know about il.
Two Immense Volumes.
The book is in two immense volumes, each
about two and q half by three feet and
eight or nine inches thick. II is bound in
green leather gold fooled and silk lined,
and printed with the finest ink and clearest
type OH the most expensive sort of heavy
handmade paper. The illustrat lions num-
Der $50 and are copper-plate etchings hand
colored steel engravings, woodcuts and
Autographs. in fact, any medium that hap
pens to be particularly fitted for the sort
of subject in hand.
To the outsider the Illustrations are the
particularly attractive feature of the work.
Each plate in each volume is especial
work of art.
worked up In their mixing and printing till
each one looked like a piece of fine pen
work. and the hand coioring In some of the
illustrations is simply of the finest The
most snowy pieces are the photographic
plates, big illustrations covering whole
page and as perfect in coloring as it is pos
sibe to make them
Each of the two volumes is immensely
heavy and bulky, and to good many peo-
pie 1t would seem a pity that since so much
money was to be put into such work that
IL was not made more convenient to handle.
Either to have broken the work up into q
number. of thinner volumes would have ac-
complis;hed the object, to have had the
letterpi'ess confined to set of books each
of size to handle and the big illustrations
bound separately, in atlas form However.
it may be ungrateful to pick flaws with
such monumental work. 1t is the finest
of its sort In existence and represents an
immense outlay of time and money. There
are comparatively few volumes in existence
and Washington has three of them. So IL
any one wants to know anything about any
aspect of jade this Is certainly the city to
come TO for the information.