Commerce in Culture: The Sibao Book Trade in the Qing and Republican Periods

Furthermore, in premodern Chinese books the name of the publisher and the date of publication sometimes were put on the verso of the title page. Because the covers of Chinese books (most commonly bound by the xianzhuang ... method) were quite flimsy, the crucial information contained on the title page was easily lost. [...]Sibao was not a place previous scholars knew about nor were necessarily interested in - put another way, Chia's and Brokaw's studies together form a remarkable composite of the history of publishing in Fujian. [...]almost all the books published by Sibao bookstores were basic. [...]the difference between the late Ming and the Qing is the increased specialization of scholarly and basic bookstores. [...]I would like to celebrate again the publication of her wonderful research.