Seven full-page & 12 double-page woodcut illus. 20; 15; 17; 17; 16 folding leaves. Five vols. 8vo, orig. semi-stiff wrappers, remains of title-slips, new stitching. Kyoto: Yamaoka Ichibei 山岡市兵衛 et al., 1686.

First edition and very rare; no copy in WorldCat. Yoshida Hanbei was the most important and prolific book illustrator in Kyoto and Osaka in the late 17th century, rivalled only by Hishikawa Moronobu in Edo. Yoshida created images for at least 90 illustrated works, including many of the Ukiyo-zōshi novels (“books of the floating world,” often portraying the amorous tribulations of men and women) by Saikaku. Hillier considers... More

Many woodcut illus. in Vol. II. 44.5; 24.5 folding leaves (pagination erratic). 8vo, orig. patterned semi-stiff wrappers, title-slips, new stitching. Edo: Matsumoto Heisuke 松本平助, 1827.

First edition of a rare book; no copy in World Cat. Segawa Jokō II (1757-1833) came from a multi-generational family of playwrights. He worked on more than 120 original dramas and more than 25 dance-dramas in both Edo and Osaka. He was expert in creating hengemono (pieces with a single actor playing different roles). and some of his dances are still in the kabuki repertoire.

This is Segawa Jokō II’s memoir of his life, immersed... More

By Hakusui 白水 [&] Yōryūshi 楊柳子 [two of Keisai’s pen names for works of erotica]. Woodcut frontis. in Vol. I of Mt. Fuji in the clouds, woodcut title-pages in the other vols., seven full-page woodcut ports. of women in Vol. I, 16 double-page woodcuts, & three single-page woodcuts, all finely color-printed & many heightened in silver or gold. 14; 10; 11.5 folding leaves. Three vols. 8vo, orig. semi-stiff wrappers (each decorated with images of Mt. Fuji on upper covers), title-slips (somewhat rubbed), new stitching. [Japan]: from the Preface “1824.”

First edition of this rare Japanese work of erotica by Keisei... More

23 pages of Jindai moji. 16 folding leaves, one leaf of ads. 8vo, orig. patterned semi-stiff wrappers, title-slip, new stitching. Itano: from the colophon (in trans.): “Woodblocks owned by Omiya Hachiman shrine, July 1779.”

First edition and rare; no copy in WorldCat. As a matter of national and cultural pride, a theory developed during the Kamakura period that in the prehistoric mythical “age of the gods,” writing systems had been developed. These character arrays or character systems — Jindai moji or Kamiyo moji 神代文字 (“characters of the Age of the Gods”) — purportedly existed before kanji characters were introduced from... More

Woodblock-printed throughout in hangul & Chinese characters of different sizes. 350 woodcut illus. 70; 70; 70; 70; 70 folding leaves. Five kwŏn in five vols. (of six). 8vo (254 x 177 mm.), orig. white paper wrappers with printed title-slips, orig. stitching. [Korea]: [late Chosŏn period].

One of two known copies of this anonymous Korean erotic book, which juxtaposes the vernacularized hagiography of Śākyamuni with hundreds of erotic prints showing all manners of sexual intercourse and masturbation, as well as related scenes of courtship and violence. To our knowledge, this is the only known example of a Korean woodblock-printed erotica. Not... More

Unpaginated. 8vo, printed softcover, title on spine. Noordwijk: MW PERS, 1986.

One of the rarest Ian Wilson (1940-2020) artist’s books; one copy recorded in WorldCat, at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. It was co-published by Marina Giezen-Wagener in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, and the artist. A fine copy.

❧ Chantal Kleinmeulman, Ian Wilson: The Discussions (2008), p. 173. More

Many black & white illus. 522 pp. Thick 8vo, pictorial softcover, title on spine. San Francisco: Contemporary Arts Press, 1984.

First and only edition, an essential book on Mail Art, with contributions by Ken Friedman, Dick Higgins, Ulises Carrión, Judith A. Hoffberg, Jean-Marc Poinsot, Milan Knizak, Klaus Groh, Anna Banana, Robert Rehfeldt, Edgardo-Antonio Vigo, C. E. Loeffler, Peter Frank, etc. It was published by La Mamelle’s Contemporary Arts Press.

“The sub-title of the book correctly states its place in the pantheon of mail art publications: the ‘Source Book for the Network of International Postal Art Activity.’ For no other work... More

Scroll (535 x 2790 mm.), pale brown silk on outer front endpaper, inside covered with gold paper, wooden core roller. [Japan]: late Edo, 1855 or later.

While Edo was the center of government and Osaka the national market hub, Nagasaki was an extremely important center of commerce, crafts, and travel. It is no wonder that Nagasaki became the locus for trade with the rest of the world during the Tokugawa era: the port, facing China and near Korea, is at the end of a long and narrow entranceway — ideal for soldiers to observe from elevated positions the comings and... More

Ca. 122 fine brush & wash illus. in many delicate colors, including gold pigment. Scroll on thin paper (272 x 1980 mm.), wooden core roller. [Japan]: at end of scroll in trans.: “Early Winter 1859 [copied by] Yamana [Maeda] Tsuranari 山名[前田]貫業.”

A beautiful manuscript, depicting ca. 122 images of court attire, mainly for males but with some costumes for women, copied by the artist and historian of court attire Yamana (b. 1838). Towards the beginning of our scroll is a Preface, dated 1726, signed by Kiyosu Yukinobu 清須幸信, describing the tradition of Heian-era to early Edo styles of court attire... More

Black & white illus. 228 pp. Large oblong 4to, printed yellow card covers, metal spiral-bound. Cologne & New York: Verlag Gebr. König, 1970.

The very rare first edition of this influential “interactive” book chronicling early performance art and Fluxus, composed by Filliou with the participation of John Cage, Allan Kaprow, Benjamin Patterson, George Brecht, Dorothy Iannone, Diter Rot, Joseph Beuys, etc. It includes interviews with the aforementioned artists along with imaginative text contributions and activities proposed to the reader, all in parallel English and German. According to WorldCat, this title is not held by any North American library.

Filliou considered... More

Four cards, printed on both sides, three of which are stamped in different colors. London: Nigel Greenwood Inc. Ltd., [1975-76].

A four-part invitation devised by Broodthaers (1924-76) for a six-month presentation at Nigel Greenwood’s London gallery. “Ceci Cela ou Rien” is printed on the front of all four cards. Except for the first, the remaining three have been rubber-stamped with the month they represent with red, yellow, and violet ink, respectively. The show apparently took place from July 1975 to January 1976, however, the CHELSEA space catalogue only lists an exhibition beginning 1 October 1975.

All four cards are in... More

One black & white full-page illus. [6] pp. 12mo, printed wrappers, staple-bound. Paris: Galerie Georges Bernheim, 1931.

Scarce Picabia (1879-1953) exhibition catalogue; we find three examples in North America. This appears to be the artist’s only show with Bernheim. Georges Bernheim, a relative of the proprietors of the celebrated Bernheim-Jeune gallery, operated a Paris gallery for several decades before World War II. His personal collection was seized by the Nazis during the occupation of France, along with those of other important Jewish gallerists Paul Rosenberg and Alphonse Kann.

The catalogue opens with a Preface by the Surrealist poet Robert Desnos... More