The sheets range from 640 x 1430 mm. to smaller. [Kyoto: 19th century].

The Yagis, father and son, were notable artists of 19th-century Japan. The father, Kiho (1806-76), was born in today’s Shiga Prefecture and lived mainly in Kyoto. He studied painting under Keibun Matsumura of the Shijo school and Giho Yamagata of the Kano school. Kiho excelled at figure painting and bird-and-flower painting and was the subject, along with his teachers, of a recent exhibition (2009) at the Nagahama Castle Historical Museum in Shiga (a catalogue was issued at the time). His work is found at the Kyoto Palace... More

Many fine brush & color and black & white paintings in the text. Two illus. with movable flaps (one is a volvelle). Finely written in a superb calligraphic hand on mica-coated (kirabiki) textured paper. 31; 34; 36; 35; 35; 30; 45; 33 leaves (not including blanks). Eight vols. 8vo (252 x 180 mm.), orig. dark blue wrappers bound in tetsuyoso style, each cover finely illustrated by hand in gold with depictions of landscapes with plants. [Japan]: Preface dated 1656; this manuscript was written sometime afterwards, probably in the 17th century.

Yamaga (1622-85), military strategist and Confucian philosopher, set forth the... More

First edition and very rare; this book is based on the Jusen wakan koto hennen gounzu (ca. 1611) by Nichisei (or Nichisho or Enchi, 1554-1614), a priest at the Yohoji Temple in Kyoto, where they printed “a series of important books…between 1600 and 1614” (Chibbett) with movable types. Nichisei supervised the temple’s printing program and also wrote and edited most of the works himself. Chronology was used in this work to legitimize the ruling families and dynasties and to provide a historical context and memory.

Yoshida (1598-1672), a member of a prominent family of physicians and engineers, is most famous... More

31 finely hand-colored mounted drawings with eight fine black & white brush drawings on slips also pasted on. 36 folding leaves of which 20 are text. 8vo (253 x 180 mm.), orig. patterned wrappers, manuscript title label on upper cover, new stitching. [Japan: late Edo].

Gento Yoshiwara (d. 1800), was one of the three most important orthopedic specialists in Japan during the final years of the 18th century, along with Bunken Kagami and Genka Ninomiya. Yoshiwara studied both Dutch medicine in Nagasaki and Chinese medicine, being greatly influenced by the Chinese Dao yin treatment of massage and exercise. Unlike the... More

More than 2150 folding leaves. 45 vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. From the final two pages of the final volume (in trans. & in a different order): “Mt. Koya: printed at the Kongobuji Temple, the owner of the woodblocks is the Kangakuin Temple, & Yamamoto Heiroku is the general manager of the Eineibo, early spring 1657.”

A very rare and massive Shingon text in 45 volumes with more than 2150 folding leaves, privately printed at the Kongobuji Temple on Mt. Koya. This is an example of a Buddhist work that was not commercially... More

13 columns per page, 18 characters per column. 43; 49; 55 folding leaves. Three vols. 8vo (279 x 195 mm.), orig. wrappers stained dark brown with fermented persimmon juice to prevent worming (nevertheless wrappers a little wormed, with careful repairs), cont. manuscript title labels, with “Kongen” written on each cover, new stitching. [Japan]: ca. 1630-40.

A rare movable type edition, unrecorded by Kawase or WorldCat. Sorimachi, in his wonderful Catalogue 42 (1972) of movable type books, describes a copy (item 419) and gives a date of “mid-Kan’ei” (ca. 1630-40). In his description, Sorimachi states that the full title of this... More

Ten columns, 20 characters per column. 34; 33; 42 folding leaves. 8vo (270 x 193 mm.), orig. pale brown wrappers (some relatively minor worming, mostly confined to the margins, but occasionally touching a character), new stitching. [Mount Hiei: before 1625].

A very rare movable type Eizan-ban; WorldCat and the Union Catalogue of Early Japanese Books do not record a copy. Kawase knows only of another edition with 19 characters per column, dated mid-Kan’ei (1615-33) and printed at Nishi Honganji Temple in Kyoto.

Eizan-ban are books published at the Enryakuji monastery complex on Mount Hiei outside of Kyoto. “Eizan printing came... More

46; 40; 19 folding leaves. Three vols. Large 8vo, orig. pale brown wrappers (somewhat rubbed), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. [Edo: 1657].

Second and best early edition. The extremely rare first edition appeared in Kyoto in 1477, but our edition, a so-called Meireki-bon, is judged to be most complete.

“In 1464 the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436-1490) asked the Zen monk Zuikei Shuho (1391-1473) to compose an official letter from the shogun to the Ming emperor. His interest in diplomatic history aroused, Zuikei Shuho began a compilation of pertinent documents. The result of his efforts, Zenrin kokuhoki... More