42 photographic plates pasted-on & poster laid-in. Unpaginated. Large 8vo, orig. boards & orig. printed dust-jacket, perfect-bound. London: The British Council, 2001.

Scarce catalogue for the British Council’s exhibition of artists’ multiples. It begins with an insightful survey of the medium by Bury, then Head of the Modern English division at the British Library. Many of the items exhibited are illustrated, and there is a check-list at the end of the catalogue. The contents of the exhibition were selected by Diana Eccles, Brett Rogers, and Sarah Staton.

A handsomely designed and important catalogue, in fine condition (slightly warped due to the plates). More

42; 26; 31; 38 folding leaves. Four vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, new stitching. [China]: on title-page & at end of Preface: “1717.”

First edition of this well-regarded standard history, finished in 1717, which “narrates the history of Prince Fu (reigned 1644-1645) in Nanjing, as the successor of the Chongzhen Emperor (reigned 1628-1644), and the short reigns of Prince Tang (reigned 1645-1646) and Prince Gui (reigned 1646-1661) that tried to resist the conquest of China by the Manchus. It ends in 1683 with the submission of Zheng Keshuang (1670-1707), the last supporter of the Ming (1368-1644), to the Manchus. The Sanfan jishi benmo is a very concise... More

Six vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers removed, orig. stitching. [China]: Fu ku she, from back of title & from colophon: “1910.”

First edition of this controversial history of the southern Ming governments, a group of scattered rump states, which, following the collapse of the Ming dynasty in 1644, continued until 1661, all resisting the Qing. Ling has provided biographies of the men who were enthroned as emperors and pretenders as well as the leading players in the politics of the time.

The publication of this book was frowned upon by the Qing government due to its discussion of... More

Imperial coat-of-arms vignette on title. xii, 28 pp. 8vo (215 x 132 mm.), late 19th-century blue sheep backed-marbled boards (upper & lower joints split but holding), title on spine. Paris: L’Auteur, 1809.

The large-paper version of this unusually finely printed auction catalogue detailing the personal collection of a history painter who was reçu by the Académie Royale in 1761. Belle (1722-1806), a pupil of François Lemoyne, worked at the Gobelins manufactory from 1755, where he adapted pictures by his contemporaries as well as his own designs into painted tapestry cartoons. His lengthy career saw him commissioned by the Comte d’Angiviller to design a tapestry... More

Five vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers (some browning), new stitching. [China] Preface dated 1755, but probably printed in the 19th century.

A reprint, of uncertain date, of the famous Manchu-Chinese edition commissioned and sponsored by the Emperor Qianlong, of The Four Books of Confucianism, which, together with The Five Classics, make up the basic canon of Confucianism. During the Ming and Qing dynasties The Four Books were made the core of the official curriculum for the civil service examinations.

An intellectual and ardent Confucian, Emperor Qianlong ordered standardized, fully annotated translations of The Four Books and The Five Classics into Manchu that... More

Numerous woodcut illustrations in the text. Title-page, 31 folding leaves, one leaf of colophon. 8vo, orig. patterned blue semi-stiff wrappers, orig. block-printed title label on upper cover (label rubbed), new stitching. Tokyo, Kyoto, & Osaka: 1864.

First edition and rare. Imamura (1814-90), was a leading physician and historian of Japanese medicine of his period. Professor of medicine at Tokyo University, he was physician to the future Emperor Taisho when he was a youth.

Imamura found that many of the contemporary Japanese works on acupuncture had strayed from the classic teachings of the Chinese physicians. In this work, he makes a series of corrections... More

18 vols. Small 8vo, various orig. wrappers or self-bound. Bamberg & Würzberg: 1809-1818.

Joseph Martin Goebhardt (1709-57) founded this bookselling company about 1747,the year he issued his first catalogue. He was succeeded by his son Tobias (1734-94), who capitalized on the demand for Italian and French works, regardless of their contents or the controversy they might cause with German censors. The Goebhardts were among the first in Germany to publish works by Diderot, d’Alembert, Helvetius, etc. Their considerable trade and publication of foreign books made them one of the primary conduits of French-German cultural exchange in the mid-18th century. This caused... More

Many illus. in the text. 36 pp., order form on lower inside wrapper. 8vo (230 x 154 mm.), semi-stiff pictorial wrappers, staple-bound. [New York]: 1988.

A scarce Printed Matter catalogue, this copy was mailed to the great dealer and scholar of art ephemera Steven Leiber, who frequently cited these catalogues in his own. It begins with an introduction by Amy Baker Sandback, a member of the Printed Matter Board of Directors. This is followed by an essay by the art critic Germano Celant (translated from the Italian) called “Artists’ Manifestos & Magazines.” Then offered are works by Daniel Buren, Tom Phillips, Dieter Roth, Telfer... More

Many text & full-page illus. [20] pp. 8vo, pictorial wrappers, staple-bound. Docking, Norfolk: 1992.

An uncommon Coracle catalogue, with many illustrations of the publications offered. It lists multiples, books, prints, and exhibition catalogues by Marie Bourget, Bill Culbert, Simon Cutts, Stephen Duncalf, Paul Lincoln, Colin Sackett, Yoko Terauchi, Erica van Horn, Richard Tuttle, etc. Most of the items are thoroughly described.

This catalogue was likely distributed through Coracle’s London bookstore, which is described on the inside of the lower wrapper as “an accumulative book space, index and agency: a location referencing the purpose of publication as a model of self-organisation and availability.” More

One black & white illus. Large folding poster (215 x 145 mm. fully folded), printed on one side. London: [ca. 1987].

A scarce poster catalogue distributed by Coracle. It lists the group’s books, pamphlets, exhibition catalogues, postcards, portfolios, etc., and includes the work of Cutts, van Horn, Terauchi, Sackett, Long, Tuttle, Jonathan Williams, Willats, etc.

The text in the rightmost panels sums up Coracle’s objectives and universal vision for the artist’s book: “These are the remainder of the products of twelve years of publishing, gallery and collaborative activity. There has always been an identity between the needs of a formative gallery and the... More

Many illus. [42] pp. Small 4to (170 x 125 mm.), pictorial dust-jacket & gray wrappers, staple-bound. [London: 1991].

An uncommon catalogue issued by the Coracle Press, interspersed with numerous, if a little blurry, illustrations of the books on offer. It lists the work of Ian Hamilton Finlay, Susan Hiller, Simon Cutts, Colin Sackett, Bernard Lassus, Hamish Fulton, Richard Long, Richard Tuttle, Bill Culbert, Stephen Willats, Erica van Horn, Yoko Terauchi, Shelagh Wakely, etc. All entries are priced and provide bibliographic information.

Near fine copy, a few small stains to the upper wrapper. More

104 pp. Small 8vo, attractive antique calf-backed marbled boards. Freystadt [Dresden]: 1690.

First edition, and very rare (no copy in North America according to WorldCat), of this pseudonymous second attack by the alchemist/chemist Amelung on the Reformierter Apothecker (1688) of Janusz Abraham Gehema (1617-1715). Gehema was one of the leading proponents in Germany of the “new medicine” of the Dutch and French, which he had learned while a medical student at Leiden, Groningen, and Utrecht.

In the Reformierter Apothecker, Gehema presented his plan to reform the apothecary trade in Germany by reducing and simplifying the range of remedies to only useful herbs... More