Folded poster (ca. 450 x 290 mm.) printed in the artist’s signature ultramarine, International Klein Blue (IKB). Los Angeles: Dwan Gallery, 1961.

The extremely rare poster conceived by Yves Klein (1928-62) for his May 1961 exhibition at Dwan Gallery in Los Angeles; unrecorded on WorldCat. This groundbreaking show came after the far more muted one at Castelli (11-29 April 1961). These were the first two presentations of Klein’s work in North America. Exhibition materials from Klein’s lifetime are very scarce and the Dwan exhibition was crucial in the artist’s introduction to the American audience. Five Klein pieces are among the... More

Single printed sheet & large crumpled and folded sheet (ca. 440 x 600), printed on both sides. San Francisco: [1999].

A very rare Steven Leiber (1957-2012) catalogue, one of approximately 100 copies produced. Numbered by Leiber as no. 30, Steven Leiber Catalogs has it as his 36th (March 1999). Imitating Duchamp’s celebrated poster and a work by Martin Creed, this catalogue is also very rare. Our copy is complete with the tongue-in-cheek certificate of authenticity for “A Sheet of 24 x 18 inch paper printed on both sides crumpled into a ball.”

The catalogue itself offers artists’ books by Roberta... More

Single folded sheet with inkjet color illus., and printed text on both sides (277 x 102 mm. folded), laid in original plastic cassette case (a little worn), and original audio cassette. [From the folded sheet]: San Francisco: April 1998.

A very rare Leiber catalogue (no. 32), and one of his most ingenious vehicles for offering materials. The catalogue consists of an audio cassette, its case, and a list laid-in the case. “Artists, curators, art librarians, and others associated with the art world were faxed catalog entries with instructions to call and read the entry aloud over Steven Leiber’s answering machine... More

Square card printed red & blue and folded translucent paper sheet with diagram & printed details. Düsseldorf: Galerie Konrad Fischer, 1968.

The extremely rare invitation to Palermo’s first show with Konrad Fischer (and Fischer’s fifth exhibition at his recently inaugurated gallery). Palermo (né Peter Schwarze, 1943-77). had his first-ever solo show with Galerie Friedrich & Dahlem just two years before. Fischer opened his gallery five months before with a Carl Andre exhibition (21 October-28 November 1967), followed by presentations of work by Darboven, Posenenske, and LeWitt.

For this show, Palermo showed seven of his “Stoffbilder,” paintings on commercial cloth with... More

21.5 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. yellowish-brown wrappers, new stitching. [Korea]: n.d.

Yuhap is a common primer for children dating from the early Chosen period. The book teaches Chinese characters by giving their Sino-Korean pronunciation along with a vernacular Korean translation. Both the pronunciation and the translation are given in han’gul, the Korean alphabet promulgated in 1443. The characters are arranged by category, as indicated by the title. The end of a list of characters belonging to a certain category is indicated by a short sentence in classical Chinese.

Yuhap was widely used in Chosen Korea alongside the Thousand Character Essay... More

Scroll (260 x 2160 mm.), with six fine illustrations pasted on, decorative endpaper at beginning. [Japan: late Edo].

A very attractive scroll on the tea ceremony building and its surroundings, illustrated with six fine scenes in brush and colors from different directions and perspectives. We have not encountered anything like this before. Our scroll offers six perspectives of the tea ceremony building, its surrounding highly designed gardens, and other features.

The six scenes are as follows:

1. The first scene, looking to the east from the tea ceremony room, shows the koshikake machiai (waiting room with a bench for seating)... More

Scroll (310 x 4130 mm.), with silk borders & silk brocade on outside of front endpaper, wooden roller, recently & expertly backed. [Edo: late Edo].

An important document for Noh theater. Our scroll depicts the buildings, stage, and back rooms of the theater constructed for the Kanjin Noh performances of 1848. They took place at Sujikaibashi in Edo and were organized by the Hosho ryu (school) of Noh, whose chief performer was Hosho Tayu XV. This school was founded in the 14th century and was known for its emphasis on its dignity and the sensitivity and refinement of its singing... More

Many black & white illus. 72, [8] pp. Large 4to (255 x 255 mm.), orig. glossy color pictorial wrappers, staple-bound. [From page 2]: San Francisco: April 1996.

One of Leiber’s most accomplished creations, his scarce and great 24th catalogue, imitating Artforum; produced in an edition of 200 copies. It offered art ephemera and the descriptions are made to look like advertisements and articles. As clearly laid out in the table of contents, this homage offered materials by or related to Beuys, Rauschenberg, Johns, Ray Johnson, Vostell, Burden, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Levine, Robert Indiana, Oldenburg, Dick Higgins and the Something Else... More

[28] leaves, printed on rectos only. 8vo, printed semi-stiff wrappers, title on spine. Eindhoven: Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, 1982.

Ian Wilson’s first artist’s book, produced in an edition of 500 copies. Known primarily for his intangible language-based work, Wilson (1940-2020), from the 1980s, undertook a lengthy series of artist's books under the title Section(s). The very first was the present work, published with the Stedelijk van Abbemuseum in 1982. He collaborated on later publications with a number of galleries, institutions, and private collectors, such as Giuseppe Panza di Biumo, Art Metropole/David Bellman, Victoria Miro, Kunsthalle Bern, Ghislain Mollet-Viéville, Maeght Lelong Gallery... More

Black & white illus. & color diagrams. 73, [2] pp. 8vo, pictorial softcover, title on spine. Brussels: Daled & Gevaert, 1977.

[with]:

—. Reboundings: an essay by Daniel Buren, followed by 7 plates and 7 diagrams. Black & white illus. & color diagrams. 77, [2] pp. 8vo, pictorial softcover, title on spine. Brussels: Daled & Gevaert, 1977.

The scarce French and English editions of Buren’s polemical text, both printed in editions of 530 copies; both in excellent condition. The artist was driven to write this as a pointed critique of museums and curators five years after the controversy surrounding his contribution to... More

Black & white illus. throughout. [24] leaves, printed on rectos only. Small 4to (210 x 152 mm.), orig. pictorial wrappers (spine a little sunned). Amsterdam: Cres Publications & Agora Studio, July 1978 [but 1979].

First edition of this scarce bookwork. Conceived by Ulises Carrión (1941-89) , it was the “July-Special” edition of Cres, a bimonthly publication. Although it is dated “July 1978” on the upper wrapper, a correction slip in this copy states that it is correctly dated to July 1979.

“[In Alphabetical Order] consisted of a set of twenty-four black-and-white photographs of a small wooden index card holder with... More

One brush & ink illus. in the text. 7.5 leaves of text. 8vo (240 x 168 mm.), orig. wrappers (the inside of the lower wrapper is used for text), stitched as issued. Probably Edo: letters dated 1853-54.

After Perry presented his letters of demands during his first visit to Japan in 1853, copies were made and distributed by Masahiro Abe (1819-57), the chief senior councillor to the shogunate, to daimyo and senior bakufu officials throughout the country, seeking opinions regarding the proper response to the Americans.

The first four pages of this most fascinating manuscript contain the response of Toshiyasu... More