Diagrams in the text. 207 pp. & colophon. 8vo, printed softcover, title on spine. Geneva: Héros-Limite, 1997.
First edition of this important Ulises Carrión (1941-89) sourcebook. The artist’s most influential texts are presented in French and English, edited by Juan J. Agius. These are paired with essays by the great scholars of artists’ books, Anne Moeglin-Delcroix (b. 1948) and Clive Phillpot (b. 1938).
Near fine. More
Black & white illus. [10] leaves. Tall 8vo, printed wrappers, staple-bound. Amsterdam: Art & Project, 1972.
Scarce Art & Project publication (edition of 300 copies), with illustrations of van Elk's work, several of which appear in his bulletins. Fine. More
One p.l. (or panel) with title & 67 woodcut scenes on a total of 20 panels (each panel 156 x 70 mm.), one leaf of colophon, all joined in accordion style (orihon). Total length: 1410 mm. Orig. blue wrappers pasted on versos of first & final leaves. [Japan]: from the printed colophon: “Ushu Shonai Matsuyama Yamadera eki Shigetsu ban” [roughly, “Printed in Ushu [today’s Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture], Shigetsu Edition”], late Edo.
The repeated chanting of sutras, sacred texts believed to preserve the actual words of the historical Buddha, is an important part of Buddhist devotion and is considered to... More
One p.l. (or panel) with title & 67 woodcut scenes on a total of 20 panels (each panel 151 x 68 mm.), one leaf of colophon, all joined in accordion style (orihon). Total length: 1340 mm. (including binding). Orig. blue wrappers, woodblock-printed title label on upper cover “Eiri judaigan” [“Illustrated Ten Grand Wishes by the Goddess”]. [Japan]: from the printed colophon: “Ushu shonai shinkakudo ban” [roughly, “Printed in Ushu [today’s Yamagata Prefecture] by Shinkakudo”], Meiji period or later.
The repeated chanting of sutras, sacred texts believed to preserve the actual words of the historical Buddha, is an important part of... More
One p.l. (or panel) with title & 67 woodcut scenes on a total of 19 panels (each panel 155 x 67 mm.), all joined in accordion style (orihon). Total length: 1380 mm. (including binding). Orig. stiff boards at beginning & end, boards covered with paper decorated with gold speckles. [Japan]: late Edo.
The repeated chanting of sutras, sacred texts believed to preserve the actual words of the historical Buddha, is an important part of Buddhist devotion and is considered to be a way of acquiring religious merit. However, to be able to read and recite a Buddhist text written in... More
65 woodcut scenes on 18 panels (each panel 167 x 75 mm.), all joined in accordion style (orihon). Total length: 1430 mm. Orig. wrappers pasted on versos of first & final leaves. [Japan]: late Edo.
The repeated chanting of sutras, sacred texts believed to preserve the actual words of the historical Buddha, is an important part of Buddhist devotion and is considered to be a way of acquiring religious merit. However, to be able to read and recite a Buddhist text written in Chinese script, which was also used in Japan and Korea, requires a knowledge of many thousands of... More
53 woodcut scenes on 12 panels (each panel 165 x 63 mm.), all joined in accordion style (orihon). Total length: 750 mm. Orig. decorated wrappers pasted on versos of first & final leaves. [Japan]: late Edo.
The repeated chanting of sutras, sacred texts believed to preserve the actual words of the historical Buddha, is an important part of Buddhist devotion and is considered to be a way of acquiring religious merit. However, to be able to read and recite a Buddhist text written in Chinese script, which was also used in Japan and Korea, requires a knowledge of many thousands... More
Three p.l. (or panels) with title & 68 woodcut scenes on a total of 24 panels (each panel 153 x 70 mm.), one leaf of colophon, all joined in accordion style (orihon). Total length: 1630 mm. Orig. boards pasted on versos of first & final leaves. [Japan]: late Edo.
The repeated chanting of sutras, sacred texts believed to preserve the actual words of the historical Buddha, is an important part of Buddhist devotion and is considered to be a way of acquiring religious merit. However, to be able to read and recite a Buddhist text written in Chinese script, which... More
Ca. 100 fine paintings of varities of chrysanthemums, using brush & color washes. 22 folding leaves. 8vo (268 x 193 mm.), orig. semi-stiff wrappers, new stitching. [Japan]: late Edo.
A beautiful album of about 100 paintings of wild Japanese chrysanthemums. Almost all the specimens are neatly labelled with their Japanese names. The chrysanthemum came from China to Japan as a medicinal plant in the Nara period (710-93) and became revered by royalty as a symbol of longevity. From the Kamakura period (1192-1333) to this day, the chrysanthemum has been the emblem of the royal family.
The thick white pigment, derived... More
Woodcut wall-map (1170 x 1420 mm.), folded into orig. gray wrappers, orig. block-printed title label on upper cover (wrappers rubbed). Text in Chinese with Japanese reading marks. Kyoto: Bundaiken Uhei, 1710.
First edition, in a fine dark impression, of the first Japanese printed map to depict the world, including Europe and North and South America, from the Buddhist cosmographical perspective. On this map, the world is seen through Buddhist eyes, based on Buddhist sources, with Mount Sumeru, the central axis of the universe in Buddhist cosmology, in the center. Lake Anavatapta, the source of the four holy rivers of India... More
31 playbills, all with block-printed covers & all with color stencilling (kappazuri) on the covers, all composed of three to five leaves, block-printed throughout with full-page illus. 31 vols. Small 4to (ca. 200 x 140 mm.), each self-bound. Osaka: various publishers including Tamaki (Honya Kiyoshichi), Daicho (?), Gyokukoken, & Hankane (?), ca. 1790-1830.
A remarkable survival: a collection of 31 extremely rare kabuki theater playbills from the historical theater district of Osaka. These playbills, which are also called ezukushi (“abundantly illustrated playbill”), all have three to five leaves. The covers, color-printed using stencils (kappazuri, a technique unique to the Kamigata... More
15 folding leaves. 8vo (290 x 2000 mm.), orig. yellow semi-stiff wrappers (wrappers a little soiled), new stitching. [Japan: late Edo].
Morning glories, first brought into Japan by the Chinese, were originally used for medicinal purposes, as a laxative. But soon the Japanese cultivated them as ornamental flowers. During the Edo period, morning glories became very popular and the subject of aesthetic admiration. Much like the “tulip mania” in 17th-century Holland, Japan experienced several morning glory booms in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Japanese horticulturalists have been the leaders in cross-breeding the flowers to develop new varieties.
The anonymous... More
91 drawings, using brush & color washes on sheets measuring 710 x 660 mm., all within two loose binder boards. [Japan]: from a pasted-on note from the lower board: “91 drawings…13 August 1860.”
A remarkable collection of 91 large and fine drawings of botanical subjects for paintings on coffered ceilings (gotenjo or goutenjo or goutenjou) of aristocratic homes, shrines, and temples, mainly in Kyoto, prepared by many of the disciples and students of Matsumura Keibun (1779-1843), the Japanese painter known as “Go Keibun.” A leading figure in the Shijo school established by his half-brother Goshun Matsumura, Keibun was most noted... More
Written throughout in a neat hand. Hundreds of brush & ink illus. throughout, many with color washes & metallic pigments. Ca. 800 folding leaves. Ten vols. Large 8vo (298 x 210 mm.),
An important and extremely extensive manuscript on the reconstruction and restoration of the Emperor’s Residence and other buildings of the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Portions of the palace complex, along with many artworks, had been destroyed or were badly damaged in the great Kyoto fire of May 1854. This palace was prone to fires, having been destroyed and rebuilt eight times, six of them during the 250-year-long peace... More
Thousands of pages of manuscript notes, pasted-in clippings of scholarly articles by him and others, photos, etc. China: 1920s-30s.
Before Japan’s defeat in the Second World War, Kobayashi Yasuo (1874?-1964) worked as an engineer for the South Manchuria Railway Company (known as mantetsu). This organization had been founded in 1905 upon Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War. It was nothing less than an organ of Japanese imperialism in northeastern China, controlling vital infrastructure — far exceeding the railroad connecting the major cities of the region — in what in 1931 became the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Mantetsu’s sphere of... More
Woodcut image printed in black & red. Japan: 17th century or a later period (see below).
In a fascinating recent British Library blog post (31 January 2020, edited 26 May 2022), Dr. Pia Maria Jolliffe of the University of Oxford and Mahli Knutson, a student at Middlebury College, Vermont, describe and discuss the BL’s recently acquired kami fumi-e, which was possibly printed about 1697. In their post, they describe the paper image made to be stepped on by Kirishitan apostates as a demonstration of the sincerity of their rejection of Christianity. Jolliffe and Knutson provide many facts, pose several important... More
22 very fine & accomplished paintings of irises, using a range of rich color washes & brush. 31 folding leaves. Large 8vo (318 x 220 mm.), orig. green patterned semi-stiff wrappers, manuscript label decorated with gold speckles, new stitching. [Japan]: Preface dated 1853; this is a later copy, probably late Edo or early Meiji.
A copy of the original manuscript of the “Kasho baiyo roku” [“Breeding Irises: A Collection”] by Matsudaira Sadatomo (1773-1856), botanist and member of the distinguished family. The original manuscript was prepared in 1853, and this is a slightly later copy; it was never published. Matsudaira created... More
22 folding leaves. 8vo (270 x 204 mm.), orig. wrappers, new stitching. Japan: late Edo.
This manuscript derives from the “Kesho mayuzukuri kuden,” a scroll written by Bokuya Mizushima (1607-97), a disciple of the Ogasawara School. Founded in the 12th century, this was one of the two major schools setting rules of courtly manners for the nobility of Japan. Mizushima enjoyed great fame as a teacher of etiquette and was consulted by the shogunal government. He wrote on all aspects of etiquette and left numerous manuscript writings of all aspects of the subject. His influence continued through the end of... More
Vol. I: Engraved frontis. printed in bistre, four hand-colored engraved plates of alternative materials used in making paper. Separate atlas with printed drop-title & 15 leaves of specimens. 6 p.l., 54 pp. Vol. II: Separate atlas with printed drop-title, 19 leaves of specimens, & one hand-colored engraved plate. 6 p.l., 28 pp. Two vols. Small 4to (195x 150 mm.), all vols. uniformly bound in richly gilt contemporary red morocco, covers with large gilt decoration in Rococo style, flat spines gilt, each text and respective atlas in fitted, richly gilt & tooled cont. red morocco slipcases. Regensburg: 1765.
[with]... More
Printed on both sides. Postcard, mailed. New York: John Weber Gallery, 1976.
Postcard invitation for the Art & Language collective’s 1976 show with John Weber. The recto has a list of works that were exhibited. In fine condition. Mailed to photographer Eve Sonneman (b. 1946). More
Diagram & details on recto. New York: John Weber Gallery, 1979.
Announcement card for Allen’s 1979 solo show with John Weber. Fine. More
Printed on one side. Oblong card. Torino: Christian Stein, 1975.
Card announcement for Pistoletto’s 1975 solo show at Christian Stein’s gallery. Fine. More
Printed on both sides. Oblong postcard, mailed. Torino: 1983.
Postcard invitation for a group show at Christian Stein’s gallery, mailed to the artist Richard Serra (b. 1938). Fine. More
![Item ID: 8836 Exhibition postcard: Upstairs at Mobil (7 February-4 March [1981]). Hans HAACKE](/pictures/medium/8836.jpg?v=1677607796)
Printed on one side. Postcard, mailed. New York: John Weber Gallery, [1981].
Postcard invitation for Haacke’s 1981 presentation at John Weber Gallery. Fine, mailed to photographer Eve Sonneman. More