The Heart Sutra.
2020. Ojai: Providence Press, 2020.
Letterpress scroll, 62 x 6 inches, printed on both sides, with wood rollers at each end. With a separate leaf of text and commentary. All enclosed in a Japanese bamboo tube. New.
§ Limited to 100 copies thus, signed by Norman Clayton. It is printed letterpress with four ink colors. The sutra is typeset in Lithos Pro. The hand lettering is by Thomas Ingmire. PVA is used for the adhesive. The paper is Crane’s Lettra Text Ecru with Ruche Blue and Natural. From the colophon: "[John Windle] chose the Heart Sutra as it meets the two basic criteria I aspired to fulfill. The sutra is generally held to be the shortest, simplest, yet most profound teaching in the Buddhist canon. It also allows me to honor rare book and printing history, as a group of Buddhist “charms” issued by the Empress Shotoku in c. 760 CE. was one of the first dated printed texts in the world, a few examples of which I have handled. The British Library notes of their example: “The Million Charms includes four short texts ... Each of the charms was printed on a small strip of paper and placed in a miniature wooden pagoda. The pagodas, which were originally painted white, were then distributed among the ten leading Buddhist temples in Western Japan.”
Stephen Mitchell, the eminent scholar and Buddhist practitioner, has adapted prior presentations of the text into a short version worthy of the deepest contemplation, and it is presented here for the first time. John Windle notes: "It is with humility and a sense of fulfilling my vows as a monk that I present this newest version of some of the oldest wisdom available to humanity. My colleague and friend Norman Clayton embraced the project from the first, and together we offer this in the hope that it will bring blessings to all sentient beings." (colophon). Item #123392
Price: $145.00