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Cho senshu

SEKKA, Kamisaka SEKKA, Kamisaka. Cho senshu. 2 Volumes, each with 25 double-page plates of coloured woodcuts depicting butterflies by Sekka. 8vo, 248 x 178 mm. folded, bound accordion-style (orihon) in green silk over boards, in a new green cloth box. Kyoto: Yamada Unsodo, 1903. A fine copy of the first printing of this landmark of twentieth century Japanese design. "Kamisaka Sekka was a genius; effortlessly, prodigiously, boundlessly imaginative; tirelessly inventive, spontaneous, and free. In One Thousand Butterflies (Cho senrui, 1903 [the book is commonly misdated; it was published in 1904]) he took a single subject and drew dozens of pictures, each in a different style. There was nothing academic about his approach. Each drawing was fresh and new; many were arresting and some mirrored new developments in European art. "Sekka loved design. He began to paint under Suzuki Zuigai when he was sixteen and studied textiles in his early twenties. He was doubly fortunate that Yamada Naosaburo, the most ambitious, original and enterprising publisher of the early twentieth century, recognized Sekka's genius and gave him the freedom and support he needed to bring into the world his protean vision of art fused with life." (Keyes). "A colour-printed book of elaborate decor based on the forms of butterflies. All the designs are 'patterned,' but some conform to the actual shape and markings of believable butterflies, though there is certainly no intention to be entomologically accurate; but in some, the artist simply used the insects as a theme for variations, distorting and manipulating the butterfly shape until it is barely recognizable, often achieving the kind of art nouveau that we associate with some Secession jewelry . . . Sekka is especially inventive when he allows swarms of butterflies to float over the page, achieving colourful geometric diagrams, or, in one, amorphous silver shape outlined in brown, green and yellow, as evocative and irrational as abstracts by Arp", (Hillier). Wear to the fragile corners, but nevertheless a fine set. Vol.1, 1908 (Meiji 41) printed in colophon page. Vol. 2, 1903 (Meiji 36) 2nd printing of the first edition according to the colophon page. Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book p. 976. Keyes, Ehon. The Artist and the Book in Japan, p. 240.
  • $6,500
  • $6,500
book (2)

The Town and Country Builder’s Assistant

NORMAN, John NORMAN, John. The Town and Country Builder's Assistant. [3], 4-13, [1] pp. text, with an engraved allegorical frontispiece and 60 engraved plates. Folio, 312 x 185 mm., bound in contemporary sheep (rebacked, corners repaired). Boston: John Norman, 1786. First edition of the first contribution to the field of architecture compiled in America. After issuing the first American edition of Swan's The British Architect, Norman came to Boston and published this work, compiled from various English sources, containing 60 plates depicting interior and exterior designs from homes and public buildings. "In its house plans and details this collection more nearly approaches the needs of the average well-to-do man than the more ambitious reprint of The British Architect" (AAS). The frontispiece is from Isaac Ware's 1756 The Complete Body of Architecture, and other content is drawn from the works of Batty Langley and other pattern book authors. Of great rarity. Only two other complete copies are recorded at auction, one in 2015 in a modern binding, and one in the De Vinne sale in 1919. Binding rebacked, a few plates silked, some just shaved at outer edge or with repairs around the edges of the platemark, but overall an exceptionally fresh copy. Evans 20027; Hitchcock 856; see "The Colonial Scene-1602-1800," in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society (April 1950), p. 74. PROVENANCE: Moses Fowler (contemporary inscription, marginalia relating to carpentry). William S. Reese.
  • $25,000
  • $25,000
book (2)

Edo Kiriezu. Set of 31 maps of Tokyo.

TOMATSU Masanori, KAGEYAMA Muneyasu, et al WITH AN UNRECORDED 31st MAP TOMATSU Masanori, Muneyasu KAGEYAMA et al. Edo Kiriezu. A complete set of 31 Coloured Woodblock Maps of Tokyo. 12mo, 165 x 90 folded, 490 x 535 unfolded, each bound in original pale blue wrappers, preserved in a contemporary wooden box. Edo: Owariya Seishichi, 1852-1864. A very special set of these Tokyo maps consisting of a mix of the first and revised editions, but containing an unrecorded 31st part. This part covered the Hacchobori district which was composed of the security administration; police, judge, defense, sheriff, etc. This colourful series of late Edo period maps depicts Tokyo's wards and the buildings, temples, shrines, gardens and residences therein. These maps represent not only a fine example of woodblock printing, but also remain an indispensable source of information on the architecture of Tokagawa Edo. Each map includes a legend delineating geographical and architectural elements by colour and shape: roads and bridges (yellow), rivers, lakes and ocean (blue), shrines and temples (red), fields and hills (green), and merchant houses or machiya (grey). Lesser noble residences are indicated by a black circle, higher ranking residences with a black square. Residences of even higher distinction are marked with the families' mon, or crest. Remarkably, nearly all residences also include the name of the inhabitant's family. The most important structures are illustrated with rough, yet charming depictions of the actual buildings, often surrounded by images of trees and gardens. Some of these structures include: The Hie Shrine (lost to bombing in the Second World War); Kanei-ji Temple, burial sight of 6 Tokagawa Shoguns; Senso-ji Temple, the oldest temple in Tokyo; Hamagoten Garden, the villa of the Tokugawa family, and many others. We can identify three creators of the maps: Muneyasu Kageyama, Masanori Tamatsu, and Yoshitomo Iyama. Each map was first published by Owariya, Seishichi, between 1849-1855, and some were subsequently reprinted. It has been generally considered that the entire series consisted of 30 maps as identified in Kerlen as well as a set digitized by the University of British Columbia, however most institutional holdings list only the odd map, thus complete runs of the series are extremely rare, and our 31st map in unrecorded. Our group remains in remarkably fine, bright condition and in a contemporary box. A complete list of each map's creator, title, size and publication date, is available upon request. Kerlen, Catalogue of Pre-Meiji Japanese Books and Maps in Public Collections in the Netherlands 221 (citing 30 maps).
  • $25,000
  • $25,000
book (2)

Photographs from the Collection of the Gilman Paper Company.

GILMAN; Apraxine, Pierre; Benson GILMAN COLLECTION. Photographs from the Collection of the Gilman Paper Company. Curated by Pierre Apraxine, with plates by Richard Benson, and notes to the plates by Lee Marks. 480 pp. Illustrated with 199 offset lithographs after photographs plus offset lithographic frontispiece. Large folio, bound in original half maroon calf over linen covered boards, in a slipcase. [Verona: Stamperia Valdonega for] The White Oak Press, 1985. A superbly printed book, presenting, for the first time, two hundred images from one of the world's important photography resources. These images, selected by Pierre Apraxine, curator of the Gilman collection, illustrate the work of over one hundred photographers. The scope ranges from the experimental daguerrotype of the early 1840's (by Samuel F. B. Morse et al.), to the pioneering photographs by Robert Frank and Diane Arbus of the mid 1950s and 1960s. The edition was limited to 1200 copies, and has been described as "a tour-de-force of offset lithography. In this instance Richard Benson painstakingly produced fine line-screen negatives for offset printing of each black and white image in four to six colours. The Gilman Paper Company bought and installed an offset printing press in Benson's home specifically for this project. Benson has written: 'this book has always been intended to be as excellent and accurate to the originals as possible.' The 199 plates of this book bear eloquent witness to the achievement of this lofty goal." As new. Grolier Club, Century for a Century 94.
book (2)

Architectura Curiosa Nova.

BOECKLER, George; BOCKLER; Boeckler, George. BÖCKLER, Georg Andreas. Architectura Curiosa Nova. Part I. Fundamenta hydragogica, indolem[que] aquae, aëris interventu in altum levandae. Part II. Varios aquarum ac salientium fontium lusus per varia spectatu jucunda epistomiorum seu Siphonum genera. Part III. Magnum amoenissimorum fontium, machinarum[que] aquaeductoriarum sumtu magno exstructarum, ac per Italiam, Galliam, Brittaniam, Germaniam etc., visendarum, numerum. Part IV. Specus artificiales sumtuosissimas, cum pleris[que] Principium Europeorum Palatiis, hortis, aulis; nec non praecipuis monasteriis at[que] arcibus. Part V. Cum auctario figurarum elegantissimarum, ad hortorum topiaria vario ductu dividenda, nec non conclavium laquearibus ac pavimentis segmentandis, item[que]Labyrinthis construendis, adhibenandarum. Translated from the German into Latin by Johanne Christophoro Sturmio. Four parts in one volume. Part I: title, [viii], 30 pp., illustrated with 4 full-page numbered engravings. Part II: title, 13, [1] pp., illustrated with 71 full-page numbered engravings (of which nine plates contain four images per page). Part III: title, 22 pp., illustrated with 120 full-page numbered engravings, including one folding (of which four plates contain two images per page). Part IV: title, 26 pp., illustrated with 36 full-page numbered engravings. Folio, 326 x 219 mm, bound in later three-quarter German vellum, black marbled paper over boards, red leather title label on spine. Nuremberg: Paul Fürst, [1664]. First Latin Edition, published simultaneously or soon after the first German edition. Dedicated to the Archbishop of Salzburg, dated 16 March 1664. This copy with the German engraved title, bearing the Latin cancel slips pasted over the German text. Few books have captured the sense of the Baroque more than this extensive survey of European fountains, which is the most comprehensive of its time. All the plates are unsigned except for the opening engraved title, signed Abraham Aubry and plate 100 in Part III by Balthasar Schwan. The remaining engravings are by anonymous printmakers. Georg Andreas Böckler (ca. 1617-1687), an Alsatian architect and engineer, was commissioned by the publisher to add descriptive text to the collection of engravings which he had assembled. Parts I-II are on the theory of hydraulics, fountain building, and the different types of fountains. Part III surveys grand pleasure fountains from Italian, French, and German designs. Part IV covers palaces, gardens, grottoes, topiary mazes, labyrinths and garden pavilions. Some of the plates are clearly after fountains designed by Bernini and Giambologna. Binding scuffed, some browning to the text, but the plates remain in clean, bright, strong impressions. A handsome copy. Millard, Northern European 7. Berlin Katalog 3579. Hunt I, 295. Cicognara 886.