China.- Surgery.- Shigong (Chen) Xinkan waike zhengzong [A manual of surgery], 12 vol., woodblock printed on bamboo paper, 8 columns per page, 20 characters per column, single black fishtail motifs, double-line borders at left and right, 37 illustrations, preface lacking 2 pages, 8 pages supplied in manuscript, each leaf with some conservation support, many fore-edge folds with strengthening and restoration, the occasional other loss, with text supplied in neat manuscript where lacking, some water stains, else good, bound and stitched Japanese-style into modern blue wrappers, housed in 2 cloth wrap-around cases with clasps, 8vo, China, Chongzhen 4, Ming Dynasty [1631]. *** A rare copy of the second edition of this highly influential manual of external surgery. Chen Shigong (1555-1633) discusses causes, symptoms, diagnoses, prescriptions, methods for surgical operations, incurable diseases, and complications. Notably, he provides an unprejudiced report of his personal clinical cases, successes and failures alike. There are 36 depictions of human bodies, with circles to mark sores and ulcers. First published in 1617, the text remained popular throughout the Qing dynasty. An identical set, incomplete in 3 vol., is in the Academy of Traditional Chinese Medical Science in Bejing.