A superb run of the foremost academic journal on Indochina
Bulletin de l'Ecole Française d'Extrème-Orient.
A run from volume 1, 1901 to volume 63, 1976, lacking only volume 11. Hanoi F.-H. Schneider, Imprimeur-Éditeur; Imprimerie d'Extreme-Orient 1901-1976
Sixty-two volumes bound in sixty-four (Volume 11 lacking; volumes 44 & 52 each in two parts), in total 42,979 pages with 2,323 plates and 37 maps. Text largely in French. This set is handsomely bound in half calf, marbled boards, and is in very good condition. Volumes 32 and 46 have small tears to top of spine. Bookplates of The Breezewood Foundation, and of Alexander Brown Griswold (1906-1991), American authority on the arts of Thailand and Southeast Asia.
A remarkable run of the foremost journal of studies on French Indochina and the surrounding regions. L'Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient was founded by Paul Doumer, Governor-General of Indochina from 1897 to 1902, encouraged by the distinguished Indologist Sylvain Lévi. The foundation decree stated its objectives: to carry out research on the archaeological and philological exploration of the Indochinese peninsula, and to contribute, by every means possible, to the understanding of its history, its monuments and its languages; to contribute toward the study of neighbouring regions and civilizations: India, China, the Malay world, etc. The first scholars of the EFEO were either Indologists or Sinologists, and from its beginnings the school sought to extend its researches into the whole of East Asia, from India to Japan. This was reflected in the Bulletin, which from its first issue in 1901 published the work of the leading scholars of the day. Auguste Barth, Emile Senart, Louis Finot, the first director of the school, Alfred Foucher, Henri Maspero, Paul Pelliot, Henri Parmentier, and George Coedès, director from 1929 to 1947, all contributed. The Bulletin de l'Ecole Française d'Extrème-Orient embraced archaeology, philiology and linguistics, ethnography, history, geography and religion, and during the course of the twentieth century established itself as not only the foremost journal for the study of French Indochina, but one of the predominant journals for the study of East Asia. The first forty-two volumes appeared regularly from 1901 to 1942, published in Hanoi. The Japanese occupation of Hanoi, a fire at the press, and the war of independence disrupted publication which moved temporarily to Saigon and then to Paris. Thirteen years were lost, but the quality of the writing was maintained.