The meaning of solitary copy is as follows:
It means that there is only one version of a certain book circulating in the world. It also refers to the only remaining unpublished manuscript or the only surviving rubbing of the original that has been lost.
An orphan copy is a book in which only one copy exists, and also includes old rubbings of certain inscriptions and unpublished manuscripts of a certain book that only exist in one copy.
The earliest existing printed matter in the world - the "Diamond Sutra" volume printed in the Tang Dynasty (868 AD) in my country, is the only copy. Another example is the late Ming and early Qing novel "Hou Shui Hu Zhuan" published by Chunfeng Literature and Art Publishing House. It is a treasure of treasures compiled and published from the only copy collected by Dalian Library. Because it is extremely rare, the price is a hundred times higher.
How to recognize the original copy:
1. Since some of the original stone carvings or cluster-pasted carvings were damaged and lost earlier, some traces left behind are no longer original. According to historical data According to the textual research and textual records, the soon-to-be-lost inscription is indeed the only one with high cultural and historical value in the art of calligraphy.
2. To be called an original copy, it must be the original rubbings of carved stone and inscriptions. Reprinted copies cannot be called original copies. At the same time, they should also be rubbings from earlier times, such as Tang rubbings and Song rubbings. Ming rubbings are relatively poor, and Qing rubbings often cannot be called such an honorable title. The inscriptions unearthed in the Qing Dynasty do not fall into this scope.
3. Some of the original copies are still fragments. Initially, the original extensions were also incomplete. But the fragments can illustrate the status and value of the unique copy.