HU, Zhengyan è¡æ£è , ed
Numerous full-page woodblock color-printed illus., some with delicate embossing. 16 vols. 8vo in orihon (accordion) format, orig. gray semi-stiff wrappers with orig. title slips. [Japan]: [1760-72]. A fine and rare Japanese edition of this Chinese "masterpiece of color printing and design" (Robert T. Paine Jr., "The Ten Bamboo Studio," Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts 48.274 [1950]: p. 72). The Ten Bamboo Studio Collection of Calligraphy and Painting is a book of finely printed images of rocks, birds, plants, and other motifs, along with poetry reproduced in calligraphy. The book is most famous for its use of woodblock printing in color. The earliest dated leaf in the set is from 1619, while the book's general introduction is dated 1633. It is not clear whether the book was first published as a complete set in 1633 or whether some leaves were printed earlier as they were finished. If some leaves were printed already in 1619, "then these would be the first known example of true color printing (i.e. multiple-color printing done with more than one wood block and requiring careful registration of successive impressions) in East Asia" (Thomas Ebrey, "The Editions, Superstates, and States of the Ten Bamboo Studio Collection of Calligraphy and Painting," East Asian Library Journal 14.1 [2010]: p. 3). If it was published in 1633, it would still be one of the earliest examples of the technique extant today. "A major innovation of [the book] was the modulation of the intensity of the ink (and colors) from one end of a block to the other when printing some of the blocks. This was done by wiping off, in a graduated way, some of the ink from the block before it was printed. Because of this and other techniques used by master printers, no two copies of such a printed leaf are ever exactly the same. There is much artistry in the printing of each leaf." Furthermore, "some of the most beautiful of the prints in the Ten Bamboo Studio Collection are monochrome prints, but these prints also take advantage of multiple-block printing since it allows much more modulation in shading and overlapping of forms than could be done with single-block printing" (Ebrey, p. 9). The book was edited by Hu Zhengyan (ca. 1582-ca. 1672), of Anhui, who was then active in Nanjing. Yet a number of artists and writers collaborated on producing the book. "Among the names of artists included it is easy to trace a line of development following the regular tradition of the Literary Men's school." In this tradition, "art was regarded as something personal and cultural, poetic and comprehensible, a proper means of expression for educated men" (Paine, "The Ten Bamboo Studio: Its Early Editions, Pictures, and Artists," Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America 5 [1951]: p. 53). The original blocks were used to produce prints in China for centuries after their carving, and there were also editions produced in Japan, such as our book. In Japan, the book was known quite early on and was influential, contributing to the rise of multicolor woodblock printing in the mid- to late Edo period. As with all copies of our edition, there is no date or place of printing. We know that it was printed before 1795, when a copy of this edition was given to a French official (it eventually ended up in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France). However, scholars have deduced that it might have been published as early as 1760 in Japan. A later Japanese edition mentions that one earlier edition has already appeared in the country in 1760, and indeed a publisher's catalogue from 1772 confirms the existence of an edition at that time. The only copies that cannot be ascribed to any of the known editions of the Ten Bamboo Studio Collection of Calligraphy and Painting belong to the same edition as our copy, and since a Japanese edition was evidently published before 1772, scholars have inferred that the edition to which our copy belongs is in fact that Japanese edition (Ebrey, pp. 38-39). In our copy, the "brief introduction" (xiaoyin å°å¼) is not found at the beginning of the "Birds" volume but in the "Fruit" volume. Our book contains five pages of bamboo practice studies and 20 orchid practice studies, compared to six and 21 in the 1633 edition. Like all copies of this edition, one page is missing from the Preface in the "Birds" volume. Several of the volumes have been misnumbered. Fine copy, some faint dampstaining and insignificant worming in two volumes. Preserved in a chitsu. ⧠With thanks to Professor Thomas Ebrey of the University of Washington.
WANG, Gai çæ§ et al.
Numerous five-color woodblock illus. Five juan in five vols. Large 8vo, new wrappers, new stitching. [China]: [1782]. The first series of this famous multicolor-printed painting manual. "There has been no other painting manual that has enjoyed wider circulation in China and Japan than the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting.in the past three centuries" (Gillian Yanzhuang Zhang, "Making a Canonical Work: A Cultural History of the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, 1679-1949," East Asian Publishing and Society 10 [2020]: p. 74). The book is "truly an encyclopedia of Chinese painting" (A. K'ai-ming Ch'iu, "The Chieh Tzu Yüan Hua Chuan (Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual): Early Editions in American Collections," Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America 5 [1951]: p. 55). According to one authority, it "is the pioneer of scientific treatises on Chinese painting, and.it is truly a marvelous work in all the thousands of years of Chinese history" (Ch'iu, p. 56, paraphrasing Yü Chien-hua). "The Mustard Seed Garden was built in Nanking by Li Yü [ææ¼] (1611-80?), a playwright and prolific writer on many subjects, who printed a number of his own books and others under this name. Although he wrote a preface to the first series of this manual in 1679, he apparently was a sponsor but not the author." The first installment of the book was "prepared by his son-in-law, Shen Yin-Yu [Shen Yinyou æ åå], and illustrated by Wang Kai [Wang Gai, active 1677-1705] and his two brothers Wang Shih [Wang Shi çè", active 1672-1681] and Wang Nieh [Wang Nie çè , active 17th-18th century]" (Tsien Tsuen-hsuin, Paper and Printing, Science and Civilisation in China, Vol. 5, Part 1, p. 286). Our book is "a step-by-step instruction book on how to do paintings of landscapes" (Tsien, p. 286). The book begins with a theoretical treatise on painting, followed by "the various methods of applying paint." Volumes (and juan) Two to Four contain the elements of painted landscapes. Volume Two treats things like trees and leaves. Some of the illustrations of pine needles and other vegetation are printed using green ink as well as black. Volume Three focuses on rocks, mountains, waterfalls, waves, and mist. Some rocks are printed in brown in addition to black. Volume Four focuses on people, animals, and man-made structures. Figures engaged in various activities and from different walks of life are depicted, as are horses, deer, and birds. Structures include rural cottages, mountain lodges, larger palace-like structures, pavilions, and bridges, as well as boats and ships. The visually most stunning volume is the fifth, which contains imitations of various masters in different styles. These full-fledged landscapes are printed in gradations of black and gray, brown, blue, and dark and light green. This volume presents a canonical example of color printing, which had been developed in China in the early 17th century. The Mustard Seed Manual was first published in 1679. Our copy belongs to the 1782 edition, which went through the hands of three publishers. Our copy might be from the original publisher, Shuye Tang. The Brooklyn Museum has digitized parts of its identical copy, which belongs to the same edition and is dated to 1782. A very nice and fresh copy, preserved in a hantao. Some insignificant worming, some of it carefully mended. ⧠With thanks to Professor Thomas Ebrey of the University of Washington.
CHEN, Sicheng é å æ & ASAI, NankÅ æµ äºåç
50; 53 folding leaves. Two vols. Large 8vo, orig. semi-stiff wrappers (a little soiled) with orig. title slips, old stitching. Kyoto: Minayama SaburÅemon çå±±ä éå è¡é & Nishimura Kichibei 西æåå µè¡, 1808. [issued with]: MURAKAMI, Toki æä ååº. BaisÅ hiroku bekki é» ç¡ç§éå¥è [Separate Notes on Secret Record of the Mold Sores]. Five woodcut illustrations. 21 folding leaves. Large 8vo, orig. semi-stiff wrappers with orig. title slip, old stitching. Kyoto: 1808. Third Japanese edition (1st. ed. in Japan: 1724/25; 2nd ed.: 1774) of the first Chinese book dedicated exclusively to syphilis, here printed with an extensive commentary by its Japanese editor. The Secret Record of the Mold Sores, or Meichuang milu in Chinese, was first published in 1632 at the end of the Ming period. Syphilis had entered China in the early 16th century through Guangdong in the South. Chen's book was reportedly the first monograph in China to treat the disease. "Chen Sicheng inherited his father's medical practice. He carried out far-reaching investigations into syphilis. Besides confirming that this disease is primarily transmitted through contact, he also discovered that it is inheritable and can be indirectly transmitted. In Meichuang milu, he recorded the symptoms of the different stages of syphilis, suggesting the use of a medication.containing arsenic for its treatment. This is the earliest record in the history of world medicine of the use of arsenic preparations to treat syphilis. In addition, in the book he also discusses methods for preventing syphilis" (Zhen Zhiya ç"å¿äº, Zhongguo yixue shi ä å½å»å¦å [1991], p. 327). For an excellent synopsis of the work, see Albert S. Ashmead, "Synopsis of a Chinese Secret; Manuscript of Syphilis, reprinted in Japan, A.D. 1724, originally written by Chin-Shi-Sei, who lived under the Dynasty of Ming (A.D. 1368-1644)" in University Medical Magazine, Vol. 6 (Oct. 1893-Sept. 1894), pp. 530-34. In addition to arsenic, Chen and other doctors advocated for the use of mercury. Meichuang milu was "the Chinese treatise that had the greatest influence over 18th-century Japanese doctors' use of antisyphilitic mercury chloride compounds." Yet our book shows that the Japanese reception of Chen's ideas was not uncritical. Asai NankÅ (1760-1826), who used the alternative name Wake Koreyuki åæ°£æäº in our book, was "a doctor who opposed Ancient Formulas medicine" associated with harsh treatments, such as those involving mercury. He "had little patience for the idea that the mica and arsenic in.[Chen's recipe] could disperse the poison of mercury to yield a milder drug; he insinuated that Chen had exaggerated the differences among these drugs as a ploy to extract greater profits from his patients" (Daniel Trambaiolo, "Antisyphilitic Mercury Drugs in Early Modern China and Japan," Études Asiatiques 2015: 1004-5). Thus Asai maintains his own voice in the commentary to our book. Asai's student Murakami Toki (also known as Murakami TÅjun çé) added the Japanese reading marks and interlinear comments seen in our book. The interlinear comments are not only informative but interesting, giving a sense of what Chinese expressions posed difficulties for Japanese readers. Murakami is also the author of the Separate Notes, which are written in Japanese and illustrated. The illustrations show the apparatus and methods for producing the mercury drugs. A number of pharmaceutical recipes are given. The word used for syphilis in the title of our book is curious. It is the Chinese word meichuang (J.: baisÅ), with mei written with the character for "mold." This name was clearly confusing to Murakami, who, quoting a Chinese collection of "jottings," says that "it is called 'mold sore' because this sore is greenish blue, black, and ashen, like the color of things that have sprouted mold after it has rained for a long time." It is tempting, however, to assume that the use of mei, "mold," is here a homophonic substitution for mei æ¢ , "plum." Syphilis was referred to as the "plum sore" disease because of the symptoms' similarity to the fruit Myrica rubra, known as Yangmei, or "poplar plum," in Chinese. Asai discussed these and other names of the disease in his notes and opposed the use of "plum sore." Fine set. ⧠Mestler, A Galaxy of Old Japanese Medical Books, III, pp. 136-38-"Like many of the early Japanese physicians, Chin considered his treatment (which he called an 'invention') secret and he asserted that he would reveal it to nobody. However, it appears to have been a mercurial treatment of syphilis, a form of therapy which was generally known and widely used. Indeed, much earlier than that time mercury (in the native form of cinnabar) was also known in Japan; and, since the Japanese were familiar with the use of mercury in the metallurgical refinement of silver and gold, it is believed that they must certainly have also used mercury in the treatment of syphilis.".
SHÅCHAN BUNKO æ£ãã£ã æ庫
Created by Kabashima Katsuichi æ ºå åä , artist & Oda ShÅsei ç "ç"°å°æ, author. Each vol. with numerous black & white woodcuts. 32 vols. (listed below). 12mo, orig. color-printed wrappers. Osaka: Enomoto Shoten æ¦æ æ åº, 1925-26. In these very rare examples of early manga, ShÅchan and his friends visit strange countries and worlds, where they encounter bizarre fantasy creatures. "ShÅchan was 'born' on January 25, 1923 (the twelfth year of the TaishÅ period: the 'ShÅ' in 'ShÅchan' is the 'shÅ' in TaishÅ, so the boy was the same age as the era), on the children's page of the new daily (later weekly) tabloid Asahi Graph. Its editor asked Kabashima Katsuichi [1888-1963] and Oda ShÅsei [1889-1967] to create a new picture story with a Japanese hero and an animal companion. Oda had recently returned to Japan after years of foreign travel and gave ShÅchan his own adventuresome spirit. Kabashima was already an established professional illustrator, familiar with the work of Aubrey Beardsley, the Vienna succession, Aart Nouveau, and other contemporary movements in Europe. He gave the boy a sweet character, a stylish modern wardrobe, an adorable companion, and his signature wool knit cap. Children adored the cap."-Roger S. Keyes, Ehon. The Artist and the Book in Japan (NYPL: 2006), p. 63. With the initial success of The Adventures of ShÅchan, other manga featuring ShÅchan were created, including these, in this collection: 1. The ShÅchan Library: 2nd Series (January 1925): 7 vols. 3rd Series (March 1925): 7 vols. 9th Series (September 1925): 5 vols. 2. Sonogo å å¾ (June 1926): 3 vols. 3. ShÅchan zuku kozÅ æ£ãã£ã ãºã å°å§ (August-September 1925): 2 vols. 4. Zuku kozÅ ãºã å°å§ (February 1925): 7 vols. 5. Zuku kozÅ bunko ãºã å°å§æ庫 (September 1925): 1 vol. In fine condition. Our set is very rare; we can find no examples in the United States.
LIP & TONGUE DIAGNOSIS
19 illus. of lips & 42 illus. of tongues (several in color). Nine folding leaves. 8vo (231 x 170 mm.), orig. wrappers, orig. stitching. [Japan]: [mid- to late Edo]. An illustrated manuscript on the pathology of the lips and tongue. Tongue diagnosis has long remained a vital tool used in traditional Chinese medicine both for assessing the current health of a patient and providing a basis for prognosis. It grew in popularity in the late imperial period and was well-established by the 18th century (Oliver Loi-Koe, "Ancient Pulse-Taking, Complexions and the Rise of Tongue Diagnosis in Modern China," in the Routledge Handbook of Chinese Medicine, pp. 171-73). Our manuscript shows that it was also practiced in Japan. We give the title found on the upper wrapper and first leaf, but the work actually consists of several sets of illustrations, only the first of which carries the title "Illustrations of Constant Phenomena of the Lips." The remainder are "JÅ«hachi shin no zu" åå «å"ä å ["18 Illustrations of Lips"], "Hachi zetsu no zu" å «èä å ["Eight Illustrations of the Tongue"], and "YÅzetsu jÅ«san no zu" é½èåä ä å ["13 Illustrations of the Top of the Tongue"]. The illustration of "Constant Phenomena of the Lips" shows a healthy pair of lips with different parts marked. There is a similar illustration of a healthy tongue preceding the tongues in various states of sickness, but that illustration does not carry a label. Each illustration is accompanied by a legend describing the medical condition depicted. The lips are described as being "red like fire," having a "watery sheen," or being "swollen and cracked," "yellow and hard," or "yellow and hot," with blisters or marks in various colors noted as well. The pathological states of the tongue are similarly illustrated and described. Methods of treatment are provided. Fine condition. Minor worming touching characters and illustrations, carefully mended.
KASUGA BAN, RECYCLED PAPER
Trans. into Chinese by Xuanzang. Orihon (accordion) format (258 x 12,550 mm.), 28 joined sheets, 23 columns per sheet, mostly 17 characters per column, blockprint height: 201 mm.). Printed on grayish recycled paper. [Nara: published by the monk KÅei at the KÅfukuji Temple, 1213]. An extremely rare example of a Kamakura-era sutra printed in Japan on recycled grayish paper; this is the first specimen we have encountered. For an excellent discussion on the subject of recycled paper used in early Japanese printing, we have turned to the most interesting contribution of SOAS Prof. Lucia Dolce ("A Sutra as a Notebook? Printing and Repurposing Scriptures in Medieval Japan," Ars Orientalis, Vol. 52, No. 3, 2023): The term sukigaeshigami æ¼è¿"ç (reclaimed paper) appears often in literary works of the time, indicating paper made by soaking scrap paper and other fibers and then spreading them thinly. This method erased the previous text almost completely. Small traces of ink and even traces of characters remained, for ink dissolves and adheres to paper and it is difficult to remove it completely. This gave paper a light gray, "thin-inked" color (usuzumikami èå¢ ç ). Sutra printed on such paper were called shukugamikyŠ宿ç çµ, literally "sutras on reclaimed paper." Since this type of paper was darker and of lower quality than new paper, it was mixed with a higher-quality paper, such as the silky textured ganpi that lends a glossy appearance, and became luxury paper. A second impression of the KÅei edition of the Lotus Sutra was printed on recycled paper of unknown provenance, which had been mixed with mica. The understanding that writing is imbued with the spirit of a person underpinned such practices, and it is suggestive that literary works use the term kankonshi ééç (lit., "paper in which the spirit of a deceased comes back" for sutra paper recycled from someone's writings. These examples suggest that the preservation of a deceased person's writing functioned as a primary aim for reusing written paper, for once printed with a sutra, that writing would enjoy long life with no danger of being destroyed (except by accident). It is worthy of note, though, that reclaiming paper was primarily not an emotional strategy, but a regular operation in premodern Japan. Until the fourteenth century paper recycling was run by a governmental institution, the Kamiya ç å±, and recycled paper was routinely used by the court for bureaucratic matters, such as imperial messages. The YogÄcÄrabhÅ«miÅÄtra is "an encyclopedic work that is the major treatise of the YogÄcÄra school of Indian Buddhism. It was widely influential in East Asia and Tibet, being translated into Chinese by Xuanzang between 646 and 648. Authorship is traditionally attributed to Asanga (or, in China, to Maitreya), but the size and scope of the text suggest that it is the compilation of the work of a number of scholars (possibly including Asanga)."-Buswell & Lopez, The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 1034. The translator, Xuanzang (600/02-64), was a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, monk, scholar, and patriarch of the Chinese YogÄcÄra tradition. Along with Kumarajiva (344-413), Xuanzang was one of the two most influential and prolific translators of Indian Buddhist texts into Chinese. In 627, he embarked on an epic journey to India, where he studied Sanskrit, and returned to China in 645 with over 600 Sanskrit manuscripts in his luggage, along with images, relics, and other artifacts. Settling in the Tang capital of Chang'an, he established a translation bureau, where he oversaw a team of monks who transcribed the texts and, in the process, made translations, polished the renderings, clarified texts, and certified both their meaning and syntax. In fine condition, preserved in a modern wooden box. Our copy is quite wormed but has been extremely skillfully repaired throughout. ⧠K.B. Gardner, "Centres of Printing in Medieval Japan: late Heian to early Edo period" in British Library Occasional Papers 11. Japanese Studies (ed. by Yu-Ying Brown), London: 1990, p. 159-"The term Kasuga-ban became used more loosely, in a wider sense, to denote publications of the Nara monasteries in general, not only of the KÅfukuji. The printing of Kasuga-ban in this broader sense flourished throughout the Kamakura period and up to the end of Muromachi (ca. 1570)." Gardner, Descriptive Catalogue of Japanese Books in the British Library Printed before 1700 (1993), no. 137 (part 77 in scroll format, printed on "white" paper).
(MARIETTE, Pierre Jean)
Engraved title-page, beautifully engraved allegorical frontis. by Cochin fils & Choffard & four engraved illus. (one folding & double-page). xvi, 418 pp. Thick 8vo, cont. mottled calf (a little worn), leather lettering-piece, spine ornately gilt. Paris: Basan: 1775. A nice copy of this important auction catalogue, in a contemporary binding. This encyclopedic catalogue begins with a finely executed allegorical engraving by Choffard and Cochin fils that depicts a bust of Mariette surrounded by the angelic personifications of art and taste; a detailed biography of Mariette; followed by a summary of the sale and a very useful index of artists. A contemporary annotator has noted the purchases at this sale made by renowned dealer Pierre Rémy on the recto of the first blank leaf at the end. Herein are described 1450 lots of paintings (by A. van de Velde, Teniers, Brouwer, Rubens, van Dyck, Poussin, Bourdon, Watteau & Greuze), terracotta, medals, sculpture, and drawings. More than 1300 drawings are detailed, by or after artists such as Carracci, Castiglione, Maratti, Michelangelo (under Buonarroti) Palladio, J.P. Panini, Raphael, Tiepolo, Vasari, Titian, the Breughels, Both, Bril, Cranach, Dürer, van Dyck, Goltzius, Goyen, Holbein, Hollar, Lairesse, Rembrandt, Rubens, Ruysdael, Visscher, Wouwerman, Amand, Boissieu, Bouchardon, Bourdon, Callot, C. Lebrun, S. le Clerc, the Coypels, Fragonard, Greuze, Mariette, Natoire, Oudry, Parrocel, Poussin, van Loo, Watteau, etc., etc. The second portion of this sale [p. 222-418], with a separate numeration, describes Mariette's vast collection of prints and books of prints. Four of the works described are reproduced with fine engravings. In very good condition; spine slightly cracked and joints carefully repaired. ⧠Lugt 2453. For more information on Mariette and these sales, see Blanc, Trésor de la Curiosité, Vol. I, pp. 262-304, & C. Guichard, Les Amateurs d'Art, A Paris au XVIIIe Siècle.
TAKAHASHI, Yoko, photographer
Color illus. throughout. Unpaginated. 12mo, debossed covers, title on spine. Tokyo: Master Mind Ltd., 2023. Photobook on The Tokyo Toilet project, made famous in Wim Wenders' film Perfect Days. The photographs were taken by Yoko Takahashi. Architects who designed toilets include: Fumihiko Maki, Junko Kobayashi, Kashiwa Sato, Kazoo Sato, Kengo Kuma, Marc Newson, Masamichi Katayama, Miles Pennington, Nao Tamura, NIGO®, Shigeru Ban, Sou Fujimoto, Tadao Ando, Takenosuke Sakakura, Tomohito Ushiro, Toyo Ito, etc. As new. Edited by Akihiro Furuya. A Japanese edition was also published. N.B. International shipping (Fedex with tracking) starts at US$30.
KLEIMANN, Eefke, curator
Illus. throughout. 59 pp. & colophon. Small 4to, printed softcover with flaps. Bremen: Kunsthalle Bremen, 2018. Rare catalogue published in conjunction with the Kunsthalle Bremen's exhibition on Jürgen Wesseler's intrepid Kabinett für aktuelle Kunst Bremerhaven. With most of the gallery's famous square posters illustrated within, including those by Daniel Buren, Gerhard Richter, Blinky Palermo, Robert Filliou, Isa Genzken, Sol LeWitt, On Kawara, Stanley Brouwn, Jack Goldstein, Sigmar Polke, Hanne Darboven, Bas Jan Ader, Lawrence Weiner, Robert Barry, etc. In excellent condition.
One sheet, folded into two leaves. Small 4to, unbound (small hole in gutter). N.p.: n.d. [but probably Nuremberg: ca. 1780-90]. An apparently unrecorded piece of satirical ephemera, notable for its offerings, such as "Books and engravings.available at the cheap rates stated," "Assorted Intelligence," etc. The 26 entries are clearly satirical, and vaguely anti-Semitic on occasion, and make concealed fictitious jabs at notables and events of the time. Some of the entries in the section "Objects mobile and immobile for sale" (in trans.) are: -"Hat mesh from a doe taken for a roebuck and mistakenly shot, available at the Saint George public house" -"A good decoy bird of a brownish color with a splendid tail, tirelessly decoying, for sale near Feucht [a Nuremberg neighborhood]" -"A very large watering can for sale; it has the unusual property of containing warm water even in the severest of winters; details to be had at SS. Peter & Paul" -"Especially fine spectacles are available from Master Horlabuz, perfect for noticing one-horse carriages in time" [apparently the 18th-century road-hog's vehicle of choice] Another section, with the heading "The following books and engravings are available at the cheap rates stated," includes: -"The Two Good Friends, or: If one falls from his horse, the other joins him, an evening operetta in two acts, one of them illuminated by a lantern, with copper engravings by Sebastian. 54 kr." -"The One-Hundred Year-Old Bridegroom, a farce in a blue-cloth jacket, at Schellhausen [in Franconia]. 3 kr." Fine condition. Not in WorldCat nor VD18.
Stamped title-page & black & white illus. throughout. Unpaginated. Oblong 4to, yellow pictorial covers, plastic spiral-bound. San Diego: October 1980. A scarce issue of the mail art periodical Commonpress, edited by American mail artist Mario Lara (n.d.); edition of 300 copies. Pawel Petasz (1951-2019), a Polish correspondence artist, launched the magazine in December 1977. Based on a system of floating editorship, anyone could edit an issue with a theme of their choosing as long as production and distribution costs were covered. Mail artists from all over the world such as Ulises Carrión, E. F. Higgins, G. E. Marx Vigo, Vittore Baroni, Günther Ruch, Angelika Schmidt, etc., produced around 100 issues by 1989. Petasz's vision for the magazine is re-published on page 2: "An international magazine of art, is created, produced, shared & distributed by and to its participants. As such it is one alternative art form in action. Each contributor to the magazine is encouraged to edit and publish a future edition according to his/her own theme and format. All production & distribution costs are met by each editor. Information & assignment of future issues is coordinated by the magazine's founder, Pawel Petasz." Ca. 197 artists contributed to the present issue, each of whom is listed with their address at the end. This is a compelling publication from a vibrant period in mail art. A fine copy. WorldCat locates two North American institutions with this issue. ⧠For information on Lara and Petasz, see Geza Perneczky's most helpful "Network Atlas" (available online).
Sticker to title-page, black & white illus. throughout. Ca. [49] leaves, printed on rectos. Red plastic folder with transparent plastic upper cover (corner creased), bound printed sheets. Stuttgart: 1982. Rare issue of Commonpress, edited by mail artist Angelika Schmidt (n.d.). Pawel Petasz (1951-2019), a Polish correspondence artist, launched this celebrated mail art project in December 1977. Based on a system of floating editorship, anyone could edit an issue with a theme of their choosing as long as production and distribution costs were covered. Mail artists from all over the world such as Ulises Carrión, E. F. Higgins, G. E. Marx Vigo, Vittore Baroni, Günther Ruch, Angelika Schmidt, etc., produced around 100 issues by 1989. Ca. 130 artists participated in this issue by sending in self-portraits taken in photo booths; all of the artists are listed with their addresses at the end. We note contributions by Anna Banana, Picasso Gaglione, Paulo Bruscky, Guillermo Deisler, John Evans, H. R. Fricker, Claudio Goulart, Klaus Groh, Ginny Lloyd, Petasz, Carol Stetser, Timm Ulrichs, Edgardo Antonio Vigo, etc., etc. A near fine copy. Unknown edition size. Seemingly unrecorded by WorldCat, at least individually. ⧠For information on Schmidt and Petasz, see Geza Perneczky's most helpful "Network Atlas" (available online).
Black & white photocopied illus. throughout. 198 leaves & colophon. Thick 4to, pictorial softcover (spine a little worn). Mantua: Assessorato Cultura Comune di Mantova, 1978. One of 500 copies, this exhibition was organized by Romano Peli and Michaela Versari. It contains essays on mail art by Ken Friedman, Michael Crane, Hervé Fischer, Walter Zanini. G. J. de Rook, Toshinori Saito, Bill Gaglione, Ruedi Schill, Paulo Bruscky, Horacio Zabala, Guillermo Deisler, etc., all translated into Italian. Mailed contributions from practitioners around the world were photocopied and serve as the illustrations in the catalogue. Near fine; spine sunned and a trifle creased.
Drawn by Ochikochi DÅin éè¿é"å°. Woodcut-printed map of Edo, on paper, with fine cont. highlighting in color, 1855 x 1690 mm., orig. blue board covers, decorated in gold depicting flowers & plants, manuscript title slip on upper cover. [Edo]: Itaya Yahei æ¿å±å½å µè¡, 1698. By the late 17th century, Edo was en route to becoming the biggest city in the world, with a population of over one million residents. As the city grew and at the same time suffered from frequent fires, there was constant rebuilding and dramatic changes to the layout of Edo. It was during this time that Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (1646-1709), served as shogun from 1680 until his death. A lover of animals, he is best known for instituting animal protection laws, particularly for dogs. This created a tremendous surge in the number of dogs in Edo, many of them diseased and stray, which caused the city to smell horribly from dog feces. To combat the problem, vast kennels (Nakano goyo oyashiki) were created in 1695 in the then-suburban Nakano section of Tokyo in the north. To reflect the many changes to the city, beginning in the middle of the 17th century a series of maps was issued under the generic name "Edo Åezu" by a number of competing publishing houses. One of these map series, the "Kaisen Edo Åezu," was drawn by the surveyor Hanchi Fujii è¤äºåç¥ (active in the second half of the 17th century), using the pseudonym Ochikochi DÅin. His map of Edo, first published in 1687, was known for its accuracy. It went through a number of printings and revisions and shows land tenures of daimyo and hatamoto. Our very rare edition of 1698 is famous, known as the "Dog Kennel Depicted Map" [Inugoya eiri ç å°å±çµµå ¥]. It, and its earlier, 1696 printing, depict for the first time these kennels (with tiny pictures of dogs). As mentioned above, the map has been delicately highlighted in yellow and orange. In fine condition, preserved in a chitsu. Minor dustiness in some folds and one stain in blank extremity.
Numerous full-page woodblock color illus. 16 vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers with orig. title slips, butterfly binding. [Kyoto]: [Hishiya Magobei], [1831]. A fine set of a Japanese edition of this Chinese "masterpiece of color printing and design" (Robert T. Paine Jr., "The Ten Bamboo Studio," Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts 48.274 [1950]: p. 72). The Ten Bamboo Studio Collection of Calligraphy and Painting is a book of finely printed images of rocks, birds, plants, and other motifs, along with poetry reproduced in calligraphy. The book is most famous for its use of woodblock printing in color. The earliest dated leaf in the set is from 1619, while the book's general introduction is dated 1633. It is not clear whether the book was first published as a complete set in 1633 or whether some leaves were printed earlier as they were finished. If some leaves were printed already in 1619, "then these would be the first known example of true color printing (i.e. multiple-color printing done with more than one wood block and requiring careful registration of successive impressions) in East Asia" (Thomas Ebrey, "The Editions, Superstates, and States of the Ten Bamboo Studio Collection of Calligraphy and Painting," East Asian Library Journal 14.1 [2010]:3). If it was published in 1633, it would still be one of the earliest examples of the technique extant today. "A major innovation of [the book] was the modulation of the intensity of the ink (and colors) from one end of a block to the other when printing some of the blocks. This was done by wiping off, in a graduated way, some of the ink from the block before it was printed. Because of this and other techniques used by master printers, no two copies of such a printed leaf are ever exactly the same. There is much artistry in the printing of each leaf." Furthermore, "some of the most beautiful of the prints in the Ten Bamboo Studio Collection are monochrome prints, but these prints also take advantage of multiple-block printing since it allows much more modulation in shading and overlapping of forms than could be done with single-block printing" (Ebrey, p. 9). The book was edited by Hu Zhengyan (ca. 1582-ca. 1672), of Anhui, who was then active in Nanjing. Yet a number of artists and writers collaborated on producing the book. "Among the names of artists included it is easy to trace a line of development following the regular tradition of the Literary Men's school." In this tradition, "art was regarded as something personal and cultural, poetic and comprehensible, a proper means of expression for educated men" (Paine, "The Ten Bamboo Studio: Its Early Editions, Pictures, and Artists," Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America 5 [1951]: p. 53). The original blocks were used to produce prints in China for centuries after their carving, and there were also editions produced in Japan, such as our book. In Japan, the book was known quite early on and was influential, contributing to the rise of multicolor woodblock printing in the mid- to late Edo period. As with many copies of this book, not all images seen in the 1633 edition are included in our copy. "Miscellany" contains 19 images out of 20, "Orchids" 38 out of 39, "Round fans" 19 out of 20, "Rocks" 18 out of 20; "Fruit" 18 out of 20 (as is the case in all copies of the 1831 edition). "Bamboo," "Plums," and "Birds" have the same number of illustrations as in the 1633 edition. Ebrey writes about our edition that "each of the seven almost complete sets [that Ebrey investigated] was missing a few pictures, and often the pictures were not in standard order" (Ebrey, p. 56). Our copy accords with this assessment on both points. Moreover, the first page of Wang Sande's introduction (yin å¼) is missing from the "Miscellany" volume. One page is missing from the Preface in the "Birds" volume (as is the case in all copies of the 1831 edition). In our copy, the "brief introduction" (xiaoyin å°å¼) is not found at the beginning of that volume but after the Preface in the "Fruit" volume. Judging by the appearance of the bamboo frame surrounding the poems in the "Round fans" volume, our copy is probably a relatively early print from the 1831 edition. Fine copy, but with pages coming loose from the spine in several volumes. Preserved in the original chitsu. ⧠With thanks to Professor Thomas Ebrey of the University of Washington.
The earliest is dated 1789, the most recent 1875, and from internal evidence we can date the second one to about 1816. Folios (ranging from 370 x 250 mm. to 335 x 210 mm.), various contemporary bindings including half-vellum and yellow boards, boards, and cloth. Schloss Arenfels: 1789, ca. 1816, & 1875. An important discovery. Schloss Arenfels, which traces its foundations to 1258, was the ancestral home of the Grafen von Isenburg, a family which traces its origins to 983. It produced several notable members of the church, including Diether von Isenburg (1412-82), Archbishop and Elector of Mainz who founded the University of Mainz; Johann V. von Isenburg (ca. 1507-56), Archbishop and Elector of Trier; and Salentin von Isenburg (ca. 1532-1610), Archbishop and Elector of Cologne. Another member, Ernst von Isenburg-Grenzau (d. 1664), was the governor general of The Netherlands. The castle and its contents later passed by marriage to the Grafen von der Leyen. In 1848 the property was inherited by Reichsgraf Ludolf Friedrich von Westerholt (1804-69) and his wife Johanna (1804-74). The library remained intact until 1951 when a large portion (about 2500 titles in 6500 volumes) went to the Stadtarchiv Bottrop, and the remainder (1167 lots) was sold at auction by Nethe & Venator of Cologne, 13-15 Sept. 1951. Many of the auctioned books were purchased by the University of Cologne. This was one of the most important auctions of books in Germany during the years immediately following World War II. The first catalogue (1 p.l., 212 pp.), dated 1789, describes the 907 titles already in the library. The library traces its origins to Bernhard von Westerholt zu Westerholt und Wilbrink (d. 1639) and Hermann Hector von Westerholt (b. 1592). The library experienced its greatest growth in the late-18th century when Ludolf Friedrich Adolf Freiherr von Boenen (1747-1828) and his wife Gräfin Wilhelmine Friederike von Westerholt-Gysenberg (1757-1820) contributed their books to the castle library. A highly cultured couple (he was president of the newly founded theatervereins in Münster), they were intensely interested in collecting books concerned with French and German literature, theater, travel, gardening and the household, and current politics. Further contributions of books dealing with law, government, and history were made by Reichsgraf Carl Casper von der Leyen (1655-1739), the cathedral provost Damian Friedrich von der Leyen (1738-1817), and his nephew Philipp Franz von der Leyen (1766-1829). The last two collected many works concerning the French Revolution and the natural sciences. The second catalogue (1 p.l., 73 leaves) was prepared no earlier than 1816 (the most recent book we can find in the catalogue was published in that year). The library has become much more numerous. The final catalogue (5 p.l., 329 pp.) reflects the state of the library in 1875. The grandson of Ludolf Friedrich and Wilhelmine, Ludolf Friedrich von Westerholt had inherited the castle and its library. He and his wife Johanna were serious collectors of books and it was during their tenancy that many of the finest early printed books entered the library. In fine condition.
One sheet folded into two leaves. Small 4to, unbound, uncut. N.p.: n.d. [but probably Nuremberg: ca. 1780-90]. Very rare; VD18 13815725 offers J.G. Recknagel as the author but without giving a source and says "place of publication not identifiable." A notary named J.G. (Johann Georg?) Recknagel was active at Nuremberg in 1772, and an eponymous Protestant clergyman (b. 1797), was active in other parts of Franconia in the 1820; neither seems to be our author. Some of the entries of this satirical fictitious piece of ephemera include the following, in translation. "Objects mobile and immobile for sale": -"Entire wardrobes of silk and fine cotton women's dresses, mantillas, and short coats to be given away, also a variety of splendid pieces of furniture, canapés, and sofas, the curse adhering to these objects will not strike whoever will purchase them legally" -"Soon to be sold (not in the course of self-redress): a habitation painted red, with numerous chicken, duck, and goose stalls, empty wine cellars and burgundy bottles, and brass bird-cages, jutting out onto an island, with walks and a garden. The malicious spirits that have hitherto haunted the property will be banished, so the buyer will have nothing to fear from them" -"A box of rarities including artificial feathers that will afford him who knows how to put them to use many advantages; going cheap" -"A batch of unscrupulousness paired with rabbleist pranks, varying helpings of fear of things to come, a suitcase full of mental agonies, and a box of impatient sighs over a failed attempt - to be had not far from the Henkersteg" [the Executioner's Bridge at Nuremberg] -"Waters from Pyrmont, Spa, Sedlitz, and Selters have recently arrived and are especially recommended to those who, during the present heat wave, have their apartment under the roof and need refreshment" "The following books to be given away" -"Chameleon Amphibian's curious water-promenade. In oblong 2°" -"Greifenklau's Art of Forging Documents: a Contribution to Diplomacy" [Greifenklau is a famous Bamberg brewery and restaurant] -"The same author's Thorough Instruction in the fine points of law and the augmentation of luxuriant perquisites." Fine copy. ⧠Not in WorldCat.
