47 pp. Small 4to (210 x 158 mm.), orig. black wrappers (upper corner creased), staple-bound. [London]: Nigel Greenwood Inc. Ltd., 1972.

First edition of this seminal exhibition catalogue, which features the first English translation of Celant’s essay on artists’ books, as well as an important list of nearly 300 then-unheralded artists’ books. Originally published in the first issue of the Italian magazine Data (Sept. 1971),the essay is recognized as one of the earliest in-depth examinations of the book form and its bearing within Conceptual art. Celant (b. 1940), the art historian and critic, organized several Arte Povera exhibitions in Italy in the 1960s and... More

28 folding engraved plates. 74; 86; 60; 35 folding leaves. Four vols. Oblong 8vo, orig. patterned wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. Tokyo: Government Publication issued under the Author’s name [Yosoda Masayoshi, a pen name for Tanabe], 1869.

First edition in Japanese, translated from an unidentified French text, which, according to the Preface, was issued in 1863, with a sequel in 1867. Tanabe also states that this work includes information gained from the French military mission of 17 men (four officers, ten non-commissioned officers, and two soldiers, led by staff captain Charles Sulpice Jules Chanoine), who came to Japan in early... More

23 pp. 8vo (210 x 135 mm.), partially stitched (edge of title-page expertly repaired), uncut. Paris: Félix & Pérignon, 1825.

The surprisingly rare auction catalogue of Regnault-Delalande (1762-1824), one of the most prodigious Parisian dealers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries; WorldCat records no copy in North America. Regnault presided over a number of famous sales from the period, foremost among them those of the expert Basan, Count Potocki, Rigal, and the influential critic Saint-Yves. The introduction claims that Regnault-Delalande produced more than 300 sale catalogues (the Getty Provenance Index records approximately 222). This memorial concludes (in trans.): “This historian of... 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

Many illus., mostly in black but some in red, pink, gray, green, yellow, blue, etc. Ca. 1821 folding leaves of text. 1083 chapters in 50 parts in 54 vols. (parts 14 & 15 in one vol., parts 24, 34, 42, & 47 in two vols. each, plus one vol. of table of contents). 8vo (266 x 188 mm.), orig. blue wrappers, orig. manuscript labels on each upper wrapper, new stitching. [Probably Kyoto: written in 1690 & this is a mid-Edo copy].

A rare and extremely important text, finely illustrated and complete in 50 parts; it remained unpublished until 1936. WorldCat lists no copy of this manuscript in North America (the NYPL’s copy is a microfilm). This... More

Woodcut frontis., woodcut vignette on title, 14 plates, & one folding floor-plan. 2 p.l., [iii]-xxiii, 390 pp. & 36 pp. of ads. Small 8vo, orig. patterned green cloth (corners just a tiny bit worn, minor foxing), sides stamped in gilt with an image of Curzon walking through the desert in Arab clothes in search of manuscripts on upper cover & a view of Jerusalem on lower cover, spine gilt. a.e.g. London: J. Murray, [second title]: New York: G.P. Putnam, 1849.

First American edition of “a great classic of the literature of travel, and one, moreover, which has book-collecting for its main theme.”–Munby, Phillipps... More

36 pp. Small 8vo (170 x 105 mm.), late 19th-century brown morocco-backed marbled boards, spine gilt. Paris: Chariot & Joullain, 1775.

A scarce priced auction catalogue, which is, according to the Getty Provenance database, incorrectly attributed by Lugt (and the inscription on the present book’s title-page) to Lempereur (1701-79), a Parisian jeweler — not to be confused with his son, the collector Jean Baptiste Denis (1726-96). This anonymous sale very probably consisted of the estate of a man with a similar surname (see Lugt Marques, 1740). A contemporary annotator has added all prices.

The catalogue describes 252 lots, including 18 paintings (by Lemoyne, H. Robert, Largillière, etc.), 169 drawings (by Maratti, Rubens, Jordaens, C. Vanloo, Greuze, Fragonard, Callot, Watteau, etc.), 56 lots of prints and books of prints, and nine sculptures. More

12 black & white illus. pasted on leaves. 32 unnumbered pages. 8vo (214 x 135 mm.), orig. blue cloth over boards (spine sunned), title in gilt on upper cover & spine. [Manchester: The Cloister Press, Ltd., 1943].

An exceedingly rare Epstein exhibition catalogue, signed by the artist; WorldCat records only the BL copy. As explained on the verso of the title-page, 50 percent of sales from this exhibition were to be given to the Merchant Navy Comforts Service. Epstein writes a brief introduction about the works he has selected: “The works in this collection which date from so early as the ‘Marcelle’ 1920 to the Chinese Girl... More

1 p.l., 20 pp. Small 8vo (185 x 138 mm.), printed paper wrappers, staple-bound. [Helsingfors: Handelstryckeriet, 1904].

The very scarce catalogue of a selling exhibition organized by Durand-Ruel in Helsinki. The artists featured in this show included Degas, Denis, P. Dubois, Alfred William Finch, Forain, Jeanniot, Constantin Meunier, Monet, Pissarro, Puvis de Chavannes, Renoir, van Rysselberghe, Signac, Sisley, Jacob Smits, Henri Thomas, etc. The title of each picture is printed in French, Finnish, and Swedish. All 69 entries are priced in francs.

Fine copy. We locate only one copy in North America. More

Eight columns per page; 17 characters per column. 65; 50; 52; 52; 45; 54; 48; 43; 38; 45; 65 folding leaves. 20 parts & table of contents in 11 vols. Large 8vo (285 x 205 mm.), orig. chestnut-colored semi-stiff wrappers, orig. block-printed labels on upper covers, new stitching. Japan: ca. 1596-1620.

One of several moveable type editions printed in Japan of the collected poetry of Huang (1045-1105), calligrapher, painter, and poet of the Song dynasty. The founder of the Jiangxi school of poetry, he is known as one of the Four Masters of the Song dynasty, along with Su Shi, Mi Fu, and Cai Xiang. Yuan Ren (fl. 1144), has provided a commentary.

This is a finely printed moveable type edition, and this copy was offered in Shigeo Sorimachi’s remarkable catalogue of moveable type Japanese books of 1972, item 173 (in trans.): “ca. 1596-1620 (Keicho, mid-Genna), large typeface, refined and correct type, layout is classic and impressive, has the prestige of Keicho editions. Every volume uses the same size of typeface and therefore harmonious. The red annotations are carefully placed and are reminiscent of the old days of high esthetics. It is rare to have all the labels on the upper covers. On the first leaf are the provenance seals of the Kokushoji [temple] in Bizen, Okayama, and the Horei Bunko collection of Frank Hawley [d. 1964].” More

Eight drawings in the text. Written on high-quality paper & in one fine hand throughout. 389 folding leaves of text in 12 vols. 8vo (242 x 180 mm.), attractive navy blue embossed wrappers, all with gold-flecked endpapers, new stitching. [Japan: late Edo].

An important archive of manuscripts of the Tanaka family concerning equine medicine. We learn in the second volume that in 1603 two horse doctors, Kawada Michiharu and another person who lived in the Kanto region, gave the information in these volumes to Murai Jibozaemon. In 1635 Yokohama Sakon gave further information to Murai. Additionally, in 1640 Shoji Kakuzaemoni gave further secrets to Murai... More