Signed wood-engraved port. of Valadon by G. Aubert & 28 black & white illus. (some pasted on, others plates). 63 pp. Small 4to (169 x 130 mm.), orig. printed wrappers. Paris: Editions de la Nouvelle Revue Française, 1922.

An uncommon luxury edition of the first publication on the artist’s career, written by critic and art historian Robert Rey (1888-1964). This is one of 215 numbered copies on pur fil Lafuma, supplemented with an original wood-engraved portrait of Valadon (1865-1938) by Georges Aubert bound-in at the beginning. Valadon began as a model for Puvis de Chavannes, Renoir, Forain, Toulouse-Lautrec, etc., and became a full-time painter in 1896... More

Hand-colored illus. in the text, hand-colored plate hors texte & sheet of “Timbres Anticrisopestiques” laid-in. [12], [1] pp. Small folio (322 x 246 mm.), orig. pictorial wrappers, stitched as issued. Paris: J. Bernard, 1933.

First and only edition of an amusing narrative about the imaginary “Crisopeste,” with fine illustrations by Lewitska, heightened in color pencil, which disrupt and transform the text. One of 100 numbered luxury copies on vélin blanc fort, heightened with hand coloring, and with an additional plate hors texte, from a total edition of 1000 copies.

Born in Poland, Lewitska (1880-1937) trained as a painter in Paris and was first associated with Cubism and... More

Many black & white illus. 72, [8] pp. Large 4to (255 x 255 mm.), orig. glossy color pictorial wrappers, staple-bound. [From page 2]: San Francisco: April 1996.

A scarce and great Leiber catalogue (no. 24), modeled after the magazine Artforum. It offered entirely printed art ephemera, with descriptions made to look like advertisements and articles. As clearly laid out in the table of contents, this homage offered materials by or related to Beuys, Rauschenberg, Johns, Ray Johnson, Vostell, Burden, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Levine, Robert Indiana, Oldenburg, Dick Higgins and the Something Else Press, Gilbert & George, LeWitt, Pistoletto, Weiner, etc., etc. A number of the items are... More

10 black & white plates. 29, [1] pp. Small 4to (192 x 143 mm.), orig. printed wrappers (a little sunned at head). Paris: 1945.

The rare catalogue for the artist’s first retrospective exhibition, which took place one year after his death. Winner of the 1890 Prix de Rome, Devambez (1867-1944) studied under Benjamin Constant and was known for his “drawings and paintings [that] have a caustic vivacity and wit, and reconcile a restrained format with the depiction of bustling crowds, as in The Demonstration, Gulliver Received by the Lilliputians, and A Première at the Théâtre Montmartre.” From 1929 to 1937, he was head of the studio at... More

1 p.l., iv, 106 pp. 8vo (196 x 122 mm.), attractive period-style mottled calf-backed marbled boards, morocco lettering-piece on spine, a.e.g. Paris: Constantin, Salle & Chariot; Amsterdam: Coclers; Antwerp: Beckmans; Brussels: Marneef; Mannheim: Armaaia; London: W. Woodburn, 1817.

Very probably the expert’s copy of this important catalogue; completely priced and with buyers’ names recorded (with running totals) on interleavings. Most remarkably, the four large grouped lots at the end are fully enumerated, also with prices and buyers. In all likelihood, this copy belonged to Constantin’s son, Amédée, or one of his colleagues, since a large number of lots are marked as “payé,” indicating... More

Ten black & white illus.; text printed in red. 12 pp. Folio (311 x 230 mm.), unbound folded sheets, as issued. [Alkmaar & Amsterdam: 1978].

An uncommon exhibition catalogue of a show curated by Carrión, held at the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar in October 1978. From the curator’s essay: “This exhibition tries to show the contact points, the relationships, between artists’ bookworks and Mail Art. Both forms are contemporary (they belong more or less to the last two decades) and influence and enrich each other.”

Carrión’s essay (in parallel Dutch and English texts) is interspersed with images showing mail art by Regina Silveira, Donald Burgy, Henryk... More

Many illus., some full-page. 29 folding leaves. Small 8vo, orig. orange wrappers (rubbed), block-printed title label on upper cover, new stitching. [Japan, probably Osaka:] Preface dated 1830.

First edition and rare. Complex hand games played by literary groups have a long tradition in Japan. Originally, these were Chinese drinking games, known as ken, introduced to Nagasaki in the 17th century, where they were known as hon ken or Nagasaki ken. The Japanese altered the games to suit their own tastes. They became popular in brothels — as a form of foreplay — and literary groups, well before they were played by children.

The game described here is known as Osaka ken, a form of sukumi ken played in the city of Osaka, using six hand gestures, making it a far more complex game than the usual three-gesture version. The numerous woodcuts depict the hand gestures, rules of the game, strategies, and chants (still using Chinese numbers). According to Prof. Hironori Takahashi of the Osaka University of Commerce, in his article “Nihon no ken yugi” (online resource), this is the only book on Osaka ken. More

Text illus. Four unnumbered leaves. Printed sheets (297 x 210 mm.), orig. brown wrappers, staple-bound. [From the first page]: Hou, Denmark: Egmont Højskolen, Feb. 1979.

A very scarce exhibition catalogue crafted by Carrión. The artist also curated exhibitions on bookworks, mail art, and rubber stamp books in Emmastad, Curaçao; Warsaw; Amsterdam; Rotterdam; Budapest; Alkmaar; Maastricht; Cambridge, England, etc. The present catalogue, with text in English and Danish, begins with Carrión thanking the artist Niels Lomholt. He then describes the exhibited materials: “Time pressures didn’t allow for a wide research, but I believe that the show includes most if not all the significant... More

Lithographed frontis. by Rot on inside of upper wrapper & many black & white text illus. 49 unnumbered pages (incl. inside of lower wrapper). 4to (229 x 170 mm.), orig. yellow printed wrappers, staple-bound. Stuttgart, London & Reykjavik: 1973.

A rare and early catalogue of artists’ books issued by Mayer, featuring a lithograph signed and numbered by Dieter Roth. We have identified three states of the lithograph, each printed in an edition of 850. This catalogue offers the work of Roth, Richard Hamilton, Tom Phillips, Stefan Wewerka, Mark Boyle, Emmett Williams, Eduardo Paolozzi, Dorothy Iannone, etc. Almost all entries are accompanied by photographs.

“A printer, art teacher and publisher living in London, Hansjörg Mayer’s typographical experiments and publications in his edition hansjörg mayer made him into one of the most important protagonists of concrete poetry and the art of the 1960s…Since 1963, as Dieter Roth’s publisher, Mayer was prepared to find ways to convert every provocative artistic idea into the letterpress. Mayer moved to England in 1966, where he taught at the Bath Academy of Art and the Watford School of Art. In 1968 the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag (The Hague) dedicated the first large retrospective to the 25-year-old artist. Since then, Mayer has published more than 300 books, posters, films, records and videos in the edition hansjörg mayer.”–from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin’s exhibition website Hansjörg Mayer, Typoems and Artist Books (October 2019-January 2020). More

Many black & white illus. 43 unnumbered pages. 8vo (180 x 128 mm.), orig. printed semi-stiff pictorial wrappers. Munich: Galerie Heiner Friedrich, 1978.

An uncommon catalogue of 26 Broodthaers editions and multiples. With a check-list at the end with information on edition size, medium, and publisher. Each work is illustrated.

In very good condition, with a few tape marks to the lower cover. More

Many black & white illus. Unpaginated, with price-list. 8vo, orig. semi-stiff pictorial wrappers, staple-bound. [Paris: 2000].

A scarce bookseller’s catalogue offering photobooks and photographs by Araki, Frank, Hosoe, Kawada, Moriyama, etc. Lists 52 items, with the price-list laid-in. WorldCat records no copy in North America. In fine condition. More

36 collotyped plates. [127], [1], [2] pp. table of contents, [1] p. Large 4to (257 x 197 mm.), orig. printed wrappers (head of spine a little worn), leaves uncut. Paris: Librairie Stock, 1936.

First edition of a scarce, early sourcebook on women artists of the early 20th century; one of 270 numbered copies printed on vélin d’Aussedat, from an edition of 300. Bunoust (1885-1974), a French figurative and later abstract painter who exhibited at a number of iterations of the Salon d’Automne, Salon des Artistes Indépendants, Salon des Tuileries, and Salon des Réalités Nouvelles. She was also a member of the Société des Femmes Artistes Modernes, founded by... More