66, [10] pp. ads & index. Tall 8vo (200 x 110 mm.), pink printed wrappers, two glue-bound gatherings laid-in wrappers as issued. [Antwerp: 1976].

The scarce catalogue issued by the curator and publisher Schraenen (1948-2018), which lists hundreds of early artists’ books; one of 500 copies printed. At the beginning, it contains contributions by Schraenen, Carrión, Kostelanetz, and Klaus Groh. It then lists the works of Beuys, Burroughs, Cage, Carrión, Degottex, Downsbrough, Ehrenberg, Filliou, Ginsberg, Higgins, Jacks, Kostelanetz, Rot, Shiomi, Tuttle, Vostell, E. Williams, etc. There are also long listings of records, magazines, and posters. This catalogue was published to accompany events held in Brussels, Antwerp... More

14 sheets, ranging from 2000 x 377 mm. to 670 x 385 mm. (the 12 drawings) to 567 x 380 mm. (the furnace), plus the wrapper. All on fine thin paper. [Japan: ca. 1855-63].

With the first demonstration of steam power in Japan, thanks to Commodore Perry’s visit in July of 1853, the feudal domains immediately began to organize the construction of a fleet of large Western-style warships. By the August 1853 arrival in Nagasaki of the Russian Admiral Yevfimy Putyatin, who gave a demonstration of a steam engine on his ship, the Palladia. Hisashige Tanaka (1799-1881), the founder of the future Toshiba Corporation and the “Thomas Edison... More

16 double-page illus. & 6 full-page illus., each with text. 20 folding leaves. 8vo (169 x 120 mm.), orig. patterned orange wrappers, manuscript title label on upper cover, new stitching. [Japan: ca. 1848-68].

A handsome musha-e yomihon mock-up draft with drawings by Sadahide Utagawa (1807-79), for an as yet unidentified historical story based on the early heroes and stories of Japan, involving Nobunaga Oda (using the name “Harunaga Oda”), Hideyoshi Toyotomi (“Hiyoshimaru Heikichiro”), and Ieyasu Tokugawa (“Inuchiyo Saida”). It was likely inspired by a biography of Hideyoshi entitled Taikoki.

Sadahide Utagawa joined Kunisada’s studio in the 1820s and became one of his best students. As a.... More

Wood-engraved vignettes on upper & lower wrappers, one large folding lithographed frontis. 8vo (210 x 140 mm.), orig. printed wrappers, stitched as issued. Paris: Coutellier & C. Paillet; London: Wootburn frères [sic.]; Bruxelles: Héris, 1835.

A very scarce catalogue, in original state, of the personal art collection of Lafontaine (1758-1835), who “took care to prepare every new stage in his career without ever allowing himself to be affected by the political or economic changes.”–Blumenfeld, p. 218. Born in Flanders, he trained under the artists Kaplan van Neste and Jean Douelle. After his acceptance into the Académie, Lafontaine exhibited a number of paintings at... More

Ten columns per page, 18 characters per column. 2, 37, 34, 1 (=74) folding leaves. Two parts in one vol. Small folio (350 x 228 mm.), orig. wrappers (wrappers rather rubbed & somewhat soiled), later stitching. [Jeolla Province: the Governor’s Office], from the colophon: July 1797.

A most uncommon Korean woodblock (?, see below) book, which reproduces the finest of the Korean moveable metal typefaces, the kabinja. “Selections from the memorials of Lu Chih (754-805), the great statesman of the T’ang dynasty. The selections were edited by King Chongjo in 1794 and first printed in mid-1797 by the Royal Printing Office with type from the kabinja font of 1777... More

12 black & white drawings in the text. 16 leaves. 8vo (222 x 147 mm.), orig. wrappers. [Japan]: “copied in 1569 by Ogawa and presented to Kai.”

A very early acupuncture manuscript. The beginning of this text concerns the yin and yang of the needles and the five organs. The text quickly turns to intestinal worms in the human body and how to treat them with acupuncture and herbal medicines; the two treatments used in conjunction would provide relief from the symptoms (many of which are listed). There are a number of drawings of parasitical worms with their names, the symptoms they cause, and where they... More

Vol. I with a number of small text illus. & Vol. II with 18 full-page drawings (several using blue, brown, & red ink as well as black) & one diagram. 48; 19 folding leaves. Written throughout in one fine & legible hand. Two vols. 8vo (255 x 182 mm.), orig. wrappers (Vol. I in blue wrappers; Vol. II in drab brown wrappers), new stitching. [Japan]: at end of the vols.: “copied in 1734 & 1735.”

A most unusual manuscript, on a topic we have not yet encountered: this is, amongst other subjects, very largely concerned with how to accurately draw meridians and acupuncture points and how to label them on acupuncture models... More

2 p.l., 118 pp. Small folio, orig. blue cloth, spine gilt. N.p.: Privately Printed, 1995.

Lawn (1905-2001), a medical practitioner, collected in fields as diverse as the occult, alchemy, philosophy, and theology. The collection, now in the Bodleian, was especially rich in 16th-century Italian books. Lawn also possessed a great number of Western and Arabic manuscripts [these collections are described in Vols. I-II, which appeared 1993-94] as well as an enormous collection of auction, bookseller, library (private and public), and museum catalogues, here described. There are many 18th- and 19th-century catalogues.

Lawn was a collector for 80 years and left two very appealing accounts of his collecting and collections in The Book Collector, Spring and Summer 1999 (“Bibliotheca Lawniana”). More

Many black & white illus. 15 pp. 8vo (215 x 137 mm.), printed wrappers, staple-bound. [Printed Editions: Barrytown, NY, ?1986].

An unrecorded catalogue issued by Printed Editions (originally Unpublished Editions and renamed in 1978) offering books by Cage, Mac Low, Hendricks, Knowles, Corner, Higgins, Oliveros, Rothenberg, etc. A number of the items for sale are thoroughly described and illustrated.

In excellent condition. We find no record of this catalogue in WorldCat. More

iv, 159 pp. 8vo (200 x 135 mm.), antique calf-backed paste-paper boards, red morocco lettering-piece on spine, spine gilt. Paris: Chariot, Boileau & Joullain, 1773.

A scarce sale catalogue, priced throughout in a contemporary hand and with running totals, featuring a large number of drawings formerly in the Crozat collection. Lempereur (1701-79), a well-known jeweler and local politician, cultivated a close relationship with Mariette, and at Mariette’s sale, Lempereur advised the king on drawings worthy of the royal collection. Gersaint counted Lempereur among his most important clients. Lempereur’s son, Jean Baptiste Denis (1726-96), continued in his footsteps as a passionate collector and patron of the... More

Many black & white illus. 124 pp. Laser-printed single sheets, rectos only (280 x 215 mm.), semi-stiff printed pictorial wrappers, plastic-spiral bound. San Francisco: April 2002.

Leiber’s rare 40th catalogue, offering ca. 331 items, many of which were duplicates from the Ruth & Marvin Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry (now at the University of Iowa). Also included were artists’ books, periodicals, recordings, exhibition catalogues, and ephemera. Approximately 100 copies of this catalogue were produced and sent to clients.

Nice copy and rare. We know of only three American institutions with copies. Small faint stain to title-page and head of upper cover a bit worn. More

Many full-page woodcut illus. Nine columns per page; 20 characters per column. 21; 32 folding leaves. Two vols. incl. addendum. 8vo, orig. wrappers, remains of block-printed title labels on upper covers. Osaka: Bun’eido, [19th century? or earlier?].

This book presents several mysteries. The title-page states “Seppu shoshi Bun’eido shi” [“Osaka publisher Bun’eido published this book”]. In spite of this, the book has all the qualities of a Chinese publication: the text paper and wrappers are clearly Chinese. There is no colophon. It would seem that this book was printed in China for the Japanese market.

The history of the literati scholar in China dates back to the Tang and Song dynasties (A.D. 618-907 and 960-1279, respectively), when the court implemented meritocratic civil exams for the selection of bureaucratic officials. The tests assessed the candidates’ knowledge and ability in a wide range of subjects, including Confucian thought, law, agriculture, and the arts, especially calligraphy, painting, and music. An entire class of intellectual and artistically trained scholars was thus created, many of whom built studios filled with beautiful calligraphy and painting tools, furniture, musical instruments, implements for preparing and consuming tea and wine, and antiques. More