5 volumes. Woodblock printed on white paper, mounted in continuous accordion folds, 348 x 125 mm. Printed in 5 columns per page, 15 characters per column (woodblock size: ca. 260 x 120 mm). Double-rule borders at top and bottom. With 2 illustrations. Bound in coloured and patterned silk brocade covers, sutra bindings (folded format). Stored in original fitted chitsu case covered in golden brocade, this within a custom black half morocco solander with gilt lettering to spine. Brocade case slightly wormed and some worming to covers, otherwise in immaculate condition.

A major Buddhist scripture, the Garland Sutra represents an enormous mid-Mahayana religious text first translated into Chinese in its entirety in the early fifth century CE. This specimen is probably one of the oldest published sutras from the Beizang, or Northern Tripitaka scripture canon, a palace publication initiated by the Yongle Emperor, Chengzu of Ming, as early as 1407, five years after the removal of the Ming capital from Nanjing in the south to Beijing in the north. While the so-called Beizang, comprising altogether 6361 juan (books) stored in 636 cases, was not completed until 1440, during the Zhengtong period (1436-49), the present set still dates entirely from the Yongle period.

This sutra displays the typical features of the Beizang, including large, well-formed characters in the Zhao Mengfu style, a fine frontispiece illustration of Buddha "preaching the law", white cotton paper of the finest quality, and linguistic explanations at the end. The five volumes constitute a complete section, with a frontispiece and an illustration of Weituotian (the guardian deity) placed at the beginning and the end. As common, the frontispiece is followed by the grand representation of a stone stele containing an auspicious inscription. Volume 1 of this sutra contains a preface written by Emperor Yongle in 1412, which marks the initial date of this production. These volumes were all written and commissioned in 1419 by Fuxian, who was probably a religious figure of high status.

In an attempt to surpass the compilation of the Nanzang, or Southern Tripitaka, published in Nanjing in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the best artisans and materials were employed in the production of the Beizang. The present set retains the glorious original covers and chitsu case covered in multi-coloured brocade in various designs. This type of brocade displays colourful woofs on plain background, and thus is called "weijin" (woof brocade). Such fine examples of weijin are extremely rare today: this set, with impeccable provenance, is the only pre-Gutenberg printed Sutra in the original silk bindings seen on a Western market for many decades.

For similar brocade covers (mostly later examples from the Wanli era), compare the recent scholarly catalogue: Zhen Xu & Feng Zhao, A Study of the Collection of Sutra Covers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Shanghai, 2019).

Full description available upon request.