Square poster (500 x 479 mm.), glossy black paper. Bremerhaven: 1988.
Rare poster made by gallerist Jürgen Wesseler for Kosuth’s exhibition in 1988. In excellent condition.
❧ E. Kleimann, ed., 50 Jahre Avantgarde: Das Kabinett für aktuelle Kunst Bremerhaven (2018), p. 45 (no. 77). More
Square poster (500 x 478 mm.), silkscreened. Bremerhaven: 1973.
Rare poster produced by gallerist Jürgen Wesseler (1938-2023) for Rückriem’s second exhibition at the Kabinett für aktuelle Kunst in Bremerhaven. In fine condition.
❧ E. Kleimann, ed., 50 Jahre Avantgarde: Das Kabinett für aktuelle Kunst Bremerhaven (2018), p. 26 (no. 20). More
Engraved calligraphic title, xii, 199 pp. 8vo, orig. cloth-backed printed slick orange boards (a little worn). Berlin: September 1805.
This is apparently the first catalogue of globes, maps, and printed geographical works issued by Schropp (1751-1817), the leading publisher and bookseller in cartographical materials in Berlin of his time. Approximately 2500 items are listed, all priced. Due to Schropp’s successes, the manufacture of globes shifted from Nuremberg to Berlin.
Very good copy. WorldCat lists no copy outside of Germany. More
Woodcut printer’s device on title. 176 pp.; 120 pp.; 24 pp.; 103 pp., two blank leaves; 86 pp., one blank leaf; 60 pp.; 200 pp., two blank leaves. Seven parts bound in one vol. 12mo, early 19th-cent. diced calf, signed on spine “Rel. P Bozerian Jeune,” flat spine richly gilt, gilt fillets round sides, a.e.g. Amsterdam: D. Elzevier, 1674.
A fine copy of by far the most important bookseller’s catalogue of the 17th century, listing on 736 pages upwards of 20,000 titles.
“It is divided into seven parts: theology, law, medicine, books on ‘miscellaneous’ subjects, books in French, in Italian... More
34; 29 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo., orig. wrappers (a little frayed & torn with no loss of text). Shanghai: Guo xue fu lun she 國學扶輪社, 1910.
An edition of this lexicographical work by Qing philologist Zhou Chun (1729-1815). A Buddhist “Approaching Elegance” is modeled on the ancient work Erya 爾雅 [Approaching Elegance]. Erya is the only lexicographical work among the Confucian “thirteen classics.” It is divided into themes. Within every theme, it lists headwords with definitions. It is believed that Erya originated as glosses on the classics.
In our book, Zhou Chun subjected the Buddhist scriptures to... More
A total of 17 panels with color-printed woodcuts (one double-page & one four panels wide). Oblong 12mo (70 x 84 mm.), orig. wooden boards, orig. purple silk title label (but no title!) on upper cover. [Japan]: late 19th century.
A very rare kind of shunga, this is an example of a mitate, an “appropriation of a classical source…then used to portray the modern, urban demi-monde.”–C. Andrew Gerstle, “Shunga and Parody” in Timothy Clark et al., eds., Shunga. Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art (British Museum: 2013), p. 335.
In this shunga, the appropriation is the tea ceremony. The... More
Of various heights & lengths (ranging from 48 to 80 mm. in height & 4,000 to 10,500 mm. in length), all in very good condition, some with silk front endpapers, four with orig. core rollers. [Japan]: mid- to late Edo.
Ten very rare examples of kokonoe no mamori, good luck talismans printed in the form of extremely long and narrow scrolls; because of their ephemeral nature, they are rare today. These talisman scrolls were not really meant to be unrolled and studied; instead, they were intended to be tightly rolled and kept in a small pouch close to the... More
Numerous fine and highly detailed full-page woodcut illus. in the text. 100 folding leaves. Five parts in two vols. 8vo, orig. yellow patterned wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. N.p.: Preface dated 1829, [published 1830].
A very fine set; this edition is rare, with no copy located by WorldCat in North America. Ozeki (1781-1845), a fiefdom lord of Kurobanehan in today’s Tochigi Prefecture, was particularly interested in technology and science. He was active as an innovator in developing the agricultural and industrial activities of his region. After his retirement, he moved to Edo and... More
Stamped envelope, mailed. Elblag, Poland: [1978].
Correspondence between Petasz (b. 1951) and Bay Area artist Eleanor Kent (1931-2014) regarding editing a future issue of commonpress, written on the back of a sheet promoting his April-May 1978 exhibition at Stempelplaats. Ulises Carrión is mentioned as a useful interlocutor for communicating with South American artists. He has also included three sheets with impressions from his trademark stamps. Rubber no. 4 is included.
In fine condition. With the original mailed envelope adorned by Petasz with several stamps. More
Elblag, Poland: [1977].
Interesting mailing from Petasz (b. 1951) sent to California artist Polly Esther Nation. Near fine. More
Six sliced & postmarked envelopes. Square 12mo, stapled wrappers. Elblag, Poland: Arrière-Garde, [1979].
Rare periodical published by Pawel Petasz (b. 1951). “The magazine devoted to mail art in oblong envelopes appears monthly in two complementary copies left and right.”
Near fine. With the stamped envelope mailed to correspondence artist Polly Esther Nation. More
Artist-made envelope & collage. Elblag, Poland: [ca. 1985].
A beautifully crafted envelope, made of handmade paper, and collage assembled by mail artist Pawel Petasz (b. 1951). In fine condition. More
Elblag, Poland: ca. 1979.
A letter from Pawel Petasz (b. 1951) to fellow correspondence artist Kent (1931-2014), with a photograph of his son and a small collage. Near fine. More
Elblag, Poland: [1980].
The mailed invitation to submit artpieces to an exhibition at Stempelplaats under the theme “The Intellectual Benefits of Art.” With an illustrated sheet advertising Art Theory Series No. 2: Ten Theses. Near fine. More
Stamped illus. throughout. [24] pp. 8vo, pictorial wrappers, staple-bound. Elblag, Poland: Arrière-Garde, 1981.
One of 13 copies made, a rare periodical made by correspondence artist Pawel Petasz (b. 1951). In fine condition. More
Stamped & printed illus. throughout. [26] pp. 8vo, printed wrappers, staple-bound. Elblag, Poland: Self-published, [1980].
The only copy of this artist’s periodical by Pawel Petasz (b. 1951). “The magazine consists of pages used for probation of stamps with addition of commercial & official stamps examples, also stamps by famous artists cut out from envelopes in beautiful compositions and other rubbish…appears irregularly in edition of one copy.”
Near fine; last few collaged leaves loose. With an invitation to participate in commonpress 34 and the artist’s stamped envelope, mailed to artist Polly Esther Nation. More
40 folding leaves. Large 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. stitching. [Guangzhou]: Guangya shuju 廣雅書局, 1892.
A rare glossary on kinship terminology. Our book aimed to provide a guide to the words used for family relations in antiquity, glossing them with references to literary sources and occasionally contemporary language (Zeng, “Zheng Zhen Qinshu ji lunlüe”). The degree of kinship is the overarching organizational principle used in the work.
Zheng Zhen (1806-64), a minor provincial official, a philologist and poet (Huang & Huang, Jindai shiwen, 22). He finished his draft for the book in 1860. His son Zheng Zhitong 鄭知同 (1831-90)... More
89 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. stitching. [China]: [Privately Printed] by Xushou tang Wang shi 虛受堂王氏 1872.
First edition of this philological work on a corpus of so-called yue fu 樂府, or “Music Bureau poems.”
Yue fu “originally referred to the Music Bureau founded in 117 B.C.” Music Bureau poems “also designated…poems commissioned for ritual purposes, poems selected to be set to music, or simply anonymous folksongs collected by the bureau from provincial regions as a way of gauging the common people’s reactions to the central government. In time, the term yüeh-fu [yue fu] was extended to... More
![Item ID: 9801 [From label on upper cover]: Ehon otsumori sakazuki 絵本おつもり盃...](https://jonathanahill.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/9801.jpg?width=768&height=1000&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1699396735)
21 double-page (one with a “trick” fold-out) & four full-page color-printed woodblock illus. 17; 12; 15 folding leaves. Three vols. 8vo, orig. semi-stiff wrappers (rubbed), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers (not present on the first vol.), orig. stitching. [Japan]: Preface dated 1826.
A remarkable and unusual shunga, which depicts a hermaphrodite (three scenes), a ménage à trois, scenes of voyeurism and masturbation, a childbirth scene, a deity with the face of a vagina, and a nun having sex with a man (two scenes). The color printing and embossing are exquisite throughout, fresh and highly detailed.
The... More
Eight vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. stitching. [China]: 1853.
Rare copy of a commercial edition of a historiographical work. The “twenty-two histories” of the title refer to the so-called dynastic or standard histories (zhengshi 正史), a retrospective bibliographical category encompassing books written between the early first century CE and the Mingshi 明史 [History of the Ming] from the 18th century. Both the scope and the format of the histories made them inaccessible to readers into the late imperial period, which motivated commercial abridgments such as our book. “Despite the much greater availability of the Histories during and after... More
Ten vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. stitching. [China]: Saoye shanfang 掃葉山房, [1798].
An edition of an abridgment of the History of the Song, with additions by the author. These additions provide a certain amount of information not found in the standard histories, but Qian’s work has been criticized by some for lacking in detail (Lao, Zhonghua yeshi cidian, 315).
Qian Shisheng (1575-1652), served as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy and later held other posts in the government in the Ming southern capital of Nanjing.
Our edition was probably published as part of Song, Liao, Jin, Yuan si... More
Four vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. stitching. [China]: Privately Printed by Zhushen hejing zhai 竹深荷淨齋, 1859.
An early edition, most likely the first, of this very rare manual on cursive script calligraphy, or cao shu. This script “received [its] final formulation during the Six Dynasties period” (Ledderose, Mi Fu, 7-8). Liang Minxian wrote in the Preface to our book that since the Han dynasty, calligraphers competent in the cursive script exceeded 200. Yet, “under our Dynasty, the learning of characters flourishes; only the cursive script remains little used.” Liang thus wrote the present manual for readers to learn... More
Six vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, orig. stitching. [China]: Shaishu tang 曬書堂, 1884.
A mid-Qing work of glossography and ethnography by a leading scholar. The work “does not separate its contents into sections, but the source material of every juan is roughly regrouped by kind. Juan 1 covers foodstuffs, juan 2 clothing, juan 3 tools, juan 4 forms of address, juan 5 seasons and events, juan 6 things, juan 7 measure words, juan 8 institutions, juan 9 government offices, juan 10 miscellaneous discussions, juan 11 religion, juan 12 flora and fauna, juan... More
24 color-printed panels with 12 illus. & 12 panels of love poems on verso, on reverse 20 erotic color-printed panels pasted-in. Miniature book (48 x 50 mm.), orig. color-printed pictorial boards, with color-printed endpapers. [Japan]: n.d.
A very rare example of a miniature shunga book, color-printed on the one side with a conventional (but rather “suggestive”) series of love poems and on the reverse with a series of 20 erotic prints pasted-in. Each of these erotic prints has a medallion with a gently erotic title. There is no author, title, place of publication, or date for this rare... More