19 large & fine brush & ink scenes, well colored. Scroll (340 x 9820 mm., including front endpaper), inner side of endpaper with speckles of gold, silk brocade on outside. [Japan]: mid- to late Edo.

A most handsome picture scroll depicting a series of kata (forms or positions) developed by the Yoshin school of jujutsu, founded by Akiyama Shirobei Yoshitoki in Nagasaki in 1642. The Yoshin school, the most popular and well known of the many martial arts schools created in the 17th century, taught a defensive combat system, using few or no weapons. Instead, it employed holds, throws, leg... More

Two double-page manuscript maps. 57 folding leaves. 8vo (247 x 175 mm.), orig. wrappers, orig. sewing. [Japan]: Editor’s Preface dated “1840.”

The hostilities between Japan and Korea resulting from Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s invasions in the late 16th century ended at the beginning of the Edo period. Diplomatic relationships were re-established, followed by a series of 12 major Korean diplomatic missions during the Tokugawa years, several of which were held in the Tsushima island fiefdom instead of Edo. Because of its close proximity to the Korean peninsula, the Tsushima fiefdom was in charge of practical affairs with Korea throughout the Edo period... More

66; 45 folding leaves. Two vols. Large 8vo, orig. pale blue wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. [Aizu Fiefdom]: Preface & Afterword dated 1803.

First edition and very rare; WorldCat lists only one copy, at Harvard. Matsudaira (1744-1805), fifth in the daimyo line of the Aizu domain (now in parts of the Fukushima and Niigata Prefectures), was imbued with Neo-Confucian idealism.

The Aizu domain “used this text as a primer [consisting of 53 injunctions] in ethics and etiquette at its official domain school the Nisshinkan…to prepare boys for future careers serving Aizu as samurai-administrators. Enrollment at... More

Many illus. 61, [1] p. Large 4to, orig. printed semi-stiff covers. Leeds: Wild Pansy Press, 2007.

Scarce catalogue for the wide-ranging exhibition at the University Gallery, Leeds juxtaposing books from across the centuries. Books and publications by Ruscha, Sugimoto, Helen Douglas, Richard Long, Dieter Roth, Boltanski, Lippard, Joan Lyons, Jonathan Monk, etc., were shown alongside Kitao Masayoshi, Hokusai, Sukenobu, Duchamp, and several other antiquarian materials. This volume includes essays by the curators, Ellis Tinios, Gaye Smith, Yann Sérandour, Sharon Kivland, and Chris Sheppard.

In near fine condition; faint wear to the edges.

❧ A. Desjardin, The Book on Books on... More

Numerous brush & color wash illus. in the text. 11 folding leaves. 8vo (263 x 197 mm.), later patterned wrappers. [Japan: mid- to late Edo].

Preparations for all organized battles are complex, and our manuscript describes many of them used in Japanese warfare during the pre-Edo and Edo eras. Drums, gongs, and conch shell trumpets (jinkai or war shell) were employed during battle for communication and other purposes. These instruments, originally used by Buddhist priests in religious practice, were introduced from China in the eighth or ninth century and were adapted by the yamabushi, ascetic warrior monks of the Shugendo... More

Many fine woodcuts printed in color & many with blind-embossing. Five vols. 8vo, orig. patterned mica-speckled wrappers (some worming carefully repaired), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers (all the labels a little wormed), new stitching. Osaka: Uozaki Motosaburo [& four others] & Kyoto: Nishimura Kichibei, 1813.

First edition, fine and thick-paper copy with special refined coloring and blind embossing of many of the woodcuts, of this important anatomical work which collects the records of three dissections performed in Kyoto in 1783, 1798, and 1802. The author explains them based on theories of both traditional Chinese medicine as well as... More

Several full-page woodcut illus. 40; 37 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo, orig. blue wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers. Osaka, Edo, & Kyoto: 1836.

[with]:

—. Sanka tangan zushiki [Illustrated Manual of Obstetrical Forceps Use]. Accordion-printed album with 33 double-page illus. Two parts in one vol. Thick 8vo, orig. boards (quite rubbed), orig. block-printed title label on upper cover. [Kyoto?]: 1837.

First edition and a rare complete set, including the two volumes of illustrated text and the atlas, all in fine condition. “Perhaps the most fascinating of the old books on obstetrics in the writer’s collection is a.... More

16 fine full-page brush & ink illus. 24 folding leaves. 8vo (243 x 169 mm.), orig. wrappers, new stitching. [Japan]: late Edo.

A fascinating manuscript. Murai (1733-1815), was a member of one of the leading Japanese families specializing in surgery. A renowned Chinese lute player, he was physician to the Kumamoto fiefdom. Murai studied under Todo Yoshimasu (1702-73), one of the most innovative practitioners of his time. Both Yoshimasu and Murai were leaders in the development of Japanese “Kampo,” the study and transformation of traditional Chinese medicine in Japan, which began in the 7th century and slowly modified itself into... More

76 (incl. three blanks); 98 (incl. four blanks) leaves. Ten columns per page. Two vols. 8vo (243 x 180 mm.), orig. dark blue semi-stiff wrappers (retsujoso-style bindings), with delicate scenes in gold of cottages in the middle of landscapes, adorned with golden pine trees, flowers, grasses, bushes, clouds & sprays of mist, using kindei (“golden mud”) & golden speckles, & finely textured gold-speckled paste-down endpapers at front & back of each vol. [Japan: copied early Edo].

It is hard to overestimate the cultural significance of the Tale of Genji, the first novel ever written and a work that has resonated... More

11 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. block-printed title label on upper cover, new stitching. Osaka & Kyoto: 1763.

First edition and very rare (no copy in WorldCat); it was written while the author was in prison. A student of the prominent physician Toyo Yamawaki, Nagatomi (1732-66), was one of the most promising young men of his generation. A scholarly physician equally interested in both Chinese traditional medicine and Western medicine, he went to Nagasaki to study with Japanese trained by the Dutch. Based on what he learned there, he concluded that excising a cancerous tumor from the breast was... More

37; 31; 20; 21.5; 18.5; 24.5 folding leaves. Six vols. 8vo, orig. limp blue wrappers (rubbed & somewhat tired), new stitching. [Kyoto]: Hiranoya Sahei, 1658.

First edition, later issue, of an important and rare illustrated book; it is the earliest known guide to the sights in and around Kyoto. This is an excellent example of rakuchu-rakugai; it provides not only a wonderful picture of the city and its architecture but also documents scenes of daily life, ranging from court nobles to samurai to commoners. This type of gazetteer gives “inside” information, both written and illustrated, on the townspeople of Kyoto... More

151 folding leaves. Three parts in one vol. Thickish 8vo, orig. patterned wrappers (upper wrapper a little worn), orig. block-printed title label on upper cover (label somewhat defective), new stitching. From the colophon: Kyoto: Nakamura Magobei, 1710.

First edition of this important and useful bibliography. In 1710 “the Kyoto publisher Nakamura Magobei compiled a catalogue known as Bengi shomokuroku. The aim of this catalogue was to help the reader disentangle book titles which could be easily confused because they were read in the same way, because they used the same characters but different readings, or because they were known by... More