24 brush & ink illus. (some double-page), many in fine color or heightened in red ink. 95 folding leaves. 8vo (238 x 168 mm.), orig. decorated wrappers, new stitching. [Japan]: “copied 1805.”

An early copy of the Japanese account of the first official Russian mission to Japan, headed by the Russian military officer Adam Kirillovich Laxman (or Laksman) (1766-1806?). With this mission, Russia became the first foreign country to request a secluded Japan to broaden its trade relations beyond China and the Dutch. Commissioned by Catherine the Great to return three Japanese shipwrecked sailors to their home country, Laxman’s expedition would in reality serve as a.... More

[Japan]: May 1711.

This kosatsu (official wooden bulletin or notice board) provides an important historical reminder of the extraordinary risks to communities suspected of faith in Christ during the long era of the Kakure Kirishitan (Hidden Christians) in Japan. The communal — not just individual — risk was enormous. Authorities in every city displayed kosatsu in public spaces — mounted on a pole, hung at village government sites (of which ours shows evidence), or secured to a bigger structure located in strategic areas (crossroads, vicinity of bridges, harbors, etc.). They were generally inscribed with regulations, edicts, and notices.

Our Kirishitan kosatsu is rather unusual as it includes the name of the bugyo who issued it. More

Two engraved titles; a printed title to Vol. I with an engraved vignette; engraved ports. of Kircher & Pope Alexander VII; 19 engraved plates & maps (12 folding or double-page), volvelles in Vol. I at pp. 132, 154, & 156; engraved slip in Vol. II at p. 385; a woodcut slip at p. 30 in Vol. II; numerous engravings & woodcuts in the text; 7 printed tables (6 of which are double-page or folding). 14 p.l., 346, [6] pp.; 5 p.l., 487, [9] pp. Two vols. in one. Folio, cont. mottled sheep (ends of spine a bit worn, minor rubbing, occasional bit of foxing), spine richly gilt. Amsterdam: J. Jansson & E. Weyerstraten, 1665.

First edition of this famous and appealing book; it “must always command a high place in the literature as the first effort to describe the earth from a physical standpoint.”–Zittel, p. 25. This work is concerned with geology, mineralogy, mining, astronomy, chemistry, and physics. More

Finely engraved title-page, engraved port. of the author, 111 engraved plates on 91 sheets (3 are folding, engraved volvelle at p. 364 with orig. red silk thread), & numerous engravings in the text. Printed title in red & black. 14 p.l., 563 pp. Folio, fine cont. Dutch vellum over boards (upper joint a little cracked but strong), panelled in blind, covers with arabesque in center of panel, remains of ties. Danzig: Autoris sumtibus, 1647.

[bound with]:

—. Epistolae II. Prior: De Motu Lunae Libratorio, in certas Tabulas redacto… Ad Johannes Bapt. Ricciolum…Posterior: De utriusquè Luminaris defectu Anni 1654. Ad…Petrum Nucerum. Finely engraved vignette on title, one engraving in... More

Woodcut printer’s device on title & woodcut illus. & diagrams in the text (several full-page). 78 pp., 1 leaf, 413, [34] pp. Small 4to, cont. English panelled calf (small & careful repairs to head & tail of spine), cont. English fore-edge paper label lettered “Cartes.” Leyden: J. Maire, 1637.

First edition, and a fine copy in a contemporary English calf binding with a delightful fore-edge label reading “Cartes.” This great classic of science is Descartes’s first published book and his most important. In it, he determined his method for obtaining real knowledge by the natural light of reason. Descartes stated that everything must be questioned so that we... More

Many black & white illus. 94 pp. Large 4to, pictorial semi-stiff wrappers. Hamburg: Hauswedell & Nolte, 2000.

A scarce example of a vast collection of artists’ books and periodicals being offered at auction. Rolf Dittmar also assembled massive collections of illustrated books and cookbooks. Many of his artists’ books were shown at the famed 1978 exhibition The Book of the Art of Artists’ Books at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. Many of Dittmar’s artists’ books are now at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

Lots 1001-1525, nearly every item is illustrated. We note numerous materials related to Fluxus, Conceptual art, concrete poetry... More

Chinese, Manchu, & Mongolian in parallel columns. 97 folding leaves. Two parts in one vol. 8vo, orig. wrappers (a little frayed, some browning due to the paper quality), new stitching. [China]: 1857 [Preface dated 1822].

First trilingual edition, with parallel columns of Manchu, Mongolian, and Chinese text, of the Lizhi jiyao (Essentials of Administrative Discipline). This book was written by Gao E (1758-after 1814), sometime between 1795 and his death. It was first published by Sanhuai Tang in a bilingual, Manchu-Chinese edition in 1822 (the date of the preface) or 1823. The same publisher reissued it in 1844. Our trilingual edition of 1857 is... More

Nine stapled & folded sheets (298 x 199 mm. unfolded), printed on both sides & 16 cards (191 x 149 mm.), with black & white illus. and facsimile ms. on reverse, both housed in the orig. cardstock box (205 x 161 x 24 mm.), with text on lid, sides, and bottom (lid a trifle soiled). Black & white illus. on inside of lid & floor of box. San Francisco: 2007.

Leiber’s rare 47th catalogue, which was issued for the second annual New York Art Book Fair, in 2007. It imitates Giulio Paolini’s boxed publication accompanying his 1977 exhibition at the Städtisches Museum Mönchengladbach. The catalogue offers a collection of 33 (of 35) kassettenkataloge for... More

Color illus. throughout. [104] pp. Small 8vo (190 x 117 mm.), orig. printed dust-jacket (scuffed at spine), perfect-bound. Toronto: Art Metropole; Aachen: Ottenhausen verlag, 1987.

First and only edition; a scarce artist’s book by Maurizio Nannucci (b. 1939). The artist introduces a series of direct photographs of buildings artists once lived in, with the following: “The art community is distinguished by continuous movement, by a sort of visceral nomadism. The images collected here are travel notes taken between 1975 and 1985. Consequently although some things may have changed down through the years, the initial project remains substantially unaltered.”

We see the front doors of buildings where artists like Laurie Anderson, Giovanni Anselmo, Joseph Beuys, Alighiero Boetti, Daniel Buren, Christo, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Ian Hamilton Finlay, General Idea, Hans Haacke, Keith Haring, Dick Higgins, Donald Judd, Joseph Kosuth, Les Levine, Sol LeWitt, Giulio Paolini, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, Ed Ruscha, Michael Snow, Andy Warhol, Lawrence Weiner, etc., once lived. Only a few women artists are included. More

Engraved vignette on each title (three different vignettes), 37 folding engraved plates, & numerous printed folding tables. 13 vols. 8vo, cont. half-calf & paste-paper boards (light foxing & dampstaining here & there), final six spines decorated in gilt with red & green leather lettering pieces on spines. Dresden: Walther, 1785-99.

A complete run of the oldest German periodical concerned with mining, mineralogy, geology, and metallurgy; it was one of the leading journals of its kind and the chief mouthpiece for the teachings of A.G. Werner. The articles contain descriptions of the latest developments in mining machinery, local geologies and mineralogies, accounts of geological expeditions, reviews of recently... More

One large folding printed table, 11 engraved plates (of which 10 are folding & 4 are hand-colored), & numerous hand-tinted diagrams in the text. 8, ix-xii, x, [11]-422, xvi, [18] pp. Thickish 8vo, cont. russia (quite well rebacked), sides decorated in gilt. Alston, Cumberland: Printed, for the Author, at the Geological Press, and Sold by John Pattinson, 1821.

“Second edition, greatly enlarged” (1st ed.: 1809). This is a handsome large-paper copy; the numerous text diagrams have been hand-tinted (in regular paper copies they are left plain). Forster (1772-1835), was a mining surveyor who had extensive experience in the lead mines of the region.

“Forster’s book...is notable for a very long column, some 5 1/2 feet long altogether, which is shown in portions...It is a typical column of ‘vertical section’, in the Geological Survey’s meaning of the term, showing by lines and dots the various kinds of rock, and drawn to scale. On one side are written the ‘local names’ (which include such curiosities as ‘girdles’, ‘post’, ‘thill’, ‘hazle’, ‘plate’, ‘tuft’) and on the other the ‘nature of each stratum’ (more ordinary adjectives, such as ‘argillaceous’, ‘siliceous’, ‘bituminous’).”–Challinor, History of British Geology, p. 93. More

Edited by Alexander Wilhelm Köhler & [from Vol. 5] Christian (or Carl) August Siegfried Hoffmann. Numerous plates & tables (many folding). Six vols. in 12. 8vo, cont. pinkish-purple boards (spines faded, occasional dampstaining & foxing), printed paper labels on spines. Freiberg: Craz, 1788-94.

[with]:

NEUES BERGMÄNNISCHES JOURNAL. Edited by Alexander Wilhelm Köhler & Christian (or Carl) August Siegfried Hoffmann. Numerous plates & tables (many folding). Three vols. (of 4). 8vo, cont. blue boards, printed paper labels on spines. Freiberg: Craz, 1795-99. More