Finely illustrated manuscript of Tale of Ise on smooth & thick torinoko paper with 30 full-page & one double-page paintings, employing sumi ink, various washes, sprinkled gold, & gold paint. Leaves of text underpainted in gold with delicate floral devices. Written throughout in a fine calligraphic cursive hand. 34; 35; 33 leaves. Three vols. Small 4to (234 x 171 mm.), retchoso binding, orig. gold & blue-green silk brocade over semi-stiff wrappers, gold endpapers, gold-patterned manuscript labels on upper cover. [Japan]: early to mid-Edo.

A very beautifully illustrated manuscript of Tale of Ise, one of the earliest and most famous literary... 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A rare and extremely important text, finely illustrated and complete in 50 parts; it remained unpublished until 1936.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... More

Two full-page brush & black ink illus. of the human body, front & back, with names of pressure points. 36 folding leaves. 8vo (247 x 172), orig. wrappers (wrappers rather worn & wormed, recased), new stitching. [Japan: late Edo].

Our manuscript is arranged by section of the body from head to foot, with a listing of about 120 pressure points and their meridians, allied organs, and related illnesses. There are precise instructions on how to locate each pressure point by measurement.

At the end is a list of 45 pressure points that should not be touched, followed by two full-page... More

53 fine plates on 30 sheets. 2 p.l., xxxix, 99, [4] pp. 4to, cont. Spanish green morocco, cover with gilt fillets round sides, flat spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine, characteristic Spanish marbled endpapers, a.e.g. [Madrid: en la Imprenta Real de la Gazeta, 1781].

First edition — and a superb copy in contemporary Spanish green morocco — of one of the most beautiful and influential of the Spanish writing books; this work and that of Palomares, published in 1776, made Spain an 18th-century center for calligraphy and fine handwriting.

The calligraphic world of later eighteenth-century Spain was formed... More

30 fine color paintings & 24 black ink drawings of various parts of the bamboo. 50 leaves. 4to (275 x 206 mm.), modern bright silk brocade wrappers, stitched as issued. [Probably Japan: late Edo].

A beautiful album of finely rendered drawings of bamboo, accompanied by explanatory text. There has been a long tradition in both China, since the eighth century, and Japan of illustrating bamboo, with much thought given to composition and the painting of the stems, knots, branches, and leaves. A number of treatises were written on the subject.

This handsomely painted manuscript contains many illustrations, all finely painted... More

59 leaves, enumerating the names of grapes, cereal crops, and oils and their prices for nearly two centuries. Small folio (273 x 178 mm.), 18th-cent. vellum over boards (tail of spine defective), two (of four) ties lacking. Burgundy: 1622-1792.

A fascinating and rare survival, which details the precipitous rise in the prices of Burgundian wine and the emergence of a hierarchy among regions and vintages over a 170-year period. This document, consisting of three gatherings (28; 28; 3 leaves), bound together and written in several legible hands, provides a wealth of information on grain harvests in the region, which varied... More

Graphite drawings throughout on triangular paper, laminated. [6] leaves, laminated covers with ms. title, signature, and date written in blue marker, metal spiral-bound. [Amsterdam?]: Self-published, 1984.

A unique hand-drawn bookwork by Ulises Carrión (1941-89), unrecorded by Ocampo and Agius in their catalogue raisonné. In the final decade of his life, Carrión created a group of geometric and minimalist books about which very little is known. This one depicts two rectangles that are initially nearly touching but, as one turns the pages, become increasingly distanced while the rectangle on the right shrinks. The book is signed by Carrión in blue marker... More

Single purple paper sheet (298 x 209 mm.), mounted on beige paper, collaged yellow pieces of paper with ms. text., signed. [Amsterdam]: 1977.

Manuscript collage language work by Mexican artist Ulises Carrión. He contributed a version of the piece to the magazine Kontexts, it appears in issue 5 (1974).

Near fine; adhesive in corners bleeding through. Signed in the lower left corner: “Ulises Carrión, ‘77.” From the collection of Guy Schraenen (1941-2018). With thanks to Rich Dana, Sackner Archive Project Coordinator Librarian at the University of Iowa Special Collections, who confirmed the appearance of this work in Kontexts issue... More

56; 46; 71; 48 folding leaves. Four vols. of manuscript. Various 8vo formats, cont. semi-stiff wrappers (one lower wrapper rather defective). [China:]: 18th or 19th century.

Collection of materials to help prepare for the Qing civil service examinations. The Chinese civilian administration of the Qing empire was carried out by six ministries and various court agencies in Beijing, which headed the regional and local governments of the provinces, prefectures, and counties of China proper. Officials who served in most of the posts in this civilian administration were recruited through a system of examinations. While success at the highest level... More

Japan: ca. 1920-30.

A remarkable collection of more than 1600 Japanese chopstick wrappers, all carefully mounted in six albums. The wrappers vary from very plain to highly elaborate and offer a wide range of design and typography. Many have telephone numbers. The anonymous collector painstakingly (and lovingly) assembled this collection in the 1920s and 1930s; the wrappers advertise famous and forgotten restaurants, which served mostly Japanese but also Chinese and Western cuisines, from almost everywhere in Japan, ranging from Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu in the south, including Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, prominent hot spring resorts, and many famous sightseeing destinations... More

Manuscript on paper. 95 folding pre-printed leaves. One kwŏn in one volume. Small folio (353 x 215 mm.), orig. wrappers (lower cover a little wormed), handwritten title & table of contents in black ink on upper cover, later stitching. [Korea]: [between 1775 & 1848].

This fine Korean manuscript is a rare sola scriptura version of the Classic of Changes, with the canonical “Ten Wings” (Ch. shiyi 十翼) commentary.

An unusual, and in its time revolutionary, edition of the Confucian Classics was commissioned by King Chŏngjo (1752–1800) of the Chŏson dynasty in 1775. As his edict to the officials observed, “many... More

Japan: mid-Edo.

These beautifully drawn paintings are in the karako (Chinese children) tradition of painting which was prevalent in Japan, starting in the early Edo period. Karako is a term for a certain kind of pictorial art with the constant theme of children dressed in Chinese clothing, with their hair in Chinese style with partially shaved heads.

These scrolls are painted with the highest skill and nuance. The details are beautifully executed in rich colors, many are heightened in gold, and have magnificent nuances of shading and detail. We have been unable to identify the artist but he must have... More