Mid-Edo period.

An extremely rare survival: an uncommonly tall and large wooden training mannequin, called in Japan do-ningyo (“copper doll,” even those no longer made of bronze), in very good condition. It is most unusual to have such a mannequin of a female; the male figure is usually presented. Certain motifs of the model suggest it was carved in the Chinese or Indian style.

The first examples of similar models originated in 11th-century China, where life-size human acupuncture figures were cast from bronze. “The metal walls of the figures were pierced with small holes corresponding to the principal loci for... More

A few black & white illus. Unpaginated. Tall 8vo, pictorial wrappers, staple-bound. Paris: [1995].

Scarce bookseller’s catalogue issued by Jean-Dominique Carré, this one is devoted to the books and exhibition catalogues of Annette Messager (b. 1943). 62 items are offered, including unique works and books that were printed in very small editions. An essential reference work for publications by or about Messager.

Near fine; faint creasing to the wrappers. WorldCat records two copies. More

Illus. throughout (several in color). Oblong thick 8vo, semi-stiff pictorial wrappers, metal fastener. Unpaginated. Amsterdam: 1986.

Boekie Woekie’s first catalogue, issued several months after the bookshop’s founding in January 1986. A collaborative effort and filled with snapshot images of many of the books, this is an important catalogue heralding the opening of the artist-run shop and its considerable efforts to distribute artists’ books worldwide. The original founders were Henriette van Egten, Rúna Thorkelsdóttir, Jan Voss, Pétur Magnússon, Kees Visser, and Saskia de Vriendt.

The catalogue lists 130 items, some with prices. It includes work by Voss, Thorkelsdóttir, van Egten, Visser... More

54; 7 leaves (final blank). Folio (both ca. 300 x 210 mm.), orig. stitching. [Amiens]: 1649.

A rare survival on the market, two mid-17th-century inventories describing the estate of Agnès de Het, wife of a feudal lord, who was councillor to the king. They lived on the outskirts of Amiens. We have found a record of de Het’s husband, Lecouvreur, agreeing to rent land in 1688, but we are not able to find any record of de Het’s life. These two manuscripts provide an exhaustive listing of a 17th-century noble family’s numerous possessions.

The first document (54 leaves), signed on... More

Many black & white illus. xii, 377 pp. 8vo, pictorial semi-stiff wrappers, perfect-bound. New York: Granary, 1995.

First softcover edition of Johanna Drucker’s invaluable contribution to the literature on artists’ books/artists’ publications/bookworks. This book is largely based on her research of artists’ books in the New York Public Library collection.

Near fine copy.

❧ A. Desjardin, The Book on Books on Artists Books (2nd ed.: 2013) 164. More

Ten cards (181 x 50 mm.), all preserved in the orig. folded color-printed wrapper, entitled on upper panel Furyu e tanzaku [Elegantly Illustrated Tanzaku Cards]. [Japan: Meiji Era].

Ten erotic cards, issued together, each in the tanzaku ban format, and accompanied by their original color-printed wrapper. Tanzaku cards were popular in the Meiji era (1868-1912); see Rosina Buckland’s “Erotic Art of the Meiji Era (1868-1912)” in Timothy Clark et al., eds., Shunga. Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art (British Museum: 2013), pp. 454-55.

The upper panel of each is very finely color-printed with saturated inks, embossing, and rich use of... More

16 double-page & four single-page color-printed woodcuts. 13; 11; 9 folding leaves. Three vols. Small 8vo, orig. speckled semi-stiff boards (boards rubbed), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. [Japan, probably Edo]: manuscript inscription dated “1832” at end of each volume.

First edition and very rare; we do not find this book listed in WorldCat or in the Union Catalogue of Japanese Books. The Preface is signed by Akikei (or Akikage) Higashikuni.

This work is an erotic version of Shiki no en, an 18th-century group of songs on the four seasons of love from the Yamada ryu school... More

Black & white illus. 22 pp. throughout. 4to, pictorial wrappers, staple-bound. New York: 1982.

One of several impressive lists published by Herlin in 1982. This one focuses on material related to Louise Nevelson and Alexander Calder. Our copy has been signed on the inside of the upper wrapper by the designer Ira Joel Haber (b. 1947).

In fine condition. Unrecorded on WorldCat. More

Nine double-page, one single-page, & several woodcut illus. in the text, all color-printed, and a number of black & white woodcuts throughout the text. One preliminary leaf pasted-down on the inside upper wrapper, 19 folding leaves, one leaf of ads at end pasted-down on the inside lower wrapper. Small 8vo, orig. wrappers decorated with the characters for “Kiraku” in hiragana, orig. block-printed title labels on upper cover, new stitching. “Ukiyo”: Kirakudo, [late Edo].

First edition of this playful parody of a serious sex manual, with illustrations by Koikawa (1821-1907), one of the leading shunga artists of the late Edo and... More

[34] pp. 8vo (212 x 149 mm.), orig. pictorial wrappers, staple-bound. Cambridge, UK, & San Francisco: 20th Century Art Archives & Steven Leiber, 1996.

The scarce Leiber catalogue (no. 22) dispersing the remaining holdings of Leif Eriksson’s Swedish Archive of Artists’ Books; produced in an edition of around 250 copies. A great collector and advocate of artists’ publications, Eriksson started his archive in 1978. This catalogue was made in collaboration with Louisa Riley-Smith (20th Century Art Archives), who designed the catalogue. She selected an entrancing image from Annette Messager’s Les Tortures Volontaires (1974) as the cover image.

This catalogue offers... More

Black & white illus. on recto, details on verso. Pictorial postcard. Houston: Cusack Gallery, 1973.

Rare and early postcard for LeWitt’s exhibition at Houston’s Cusack Gallery. Barbara Cusack (now Hill) opened the space in 1971, and shortly thereafter began hosting exhibitions by a series of influential Conceptual and Minimalist artists, such as Mangold, LeWitt, Kawara, Buren, Tuttle, Ian Wilson, Darboven, Andre, Dibbets, etc. By 1976, she was forced to close the little-known gallery.

In fine condition.

❧ Michael Lailach, ed., Printed Matter: Die Sammlung Marzona in der Kunstbibliothek (2005), p. 138.

Not in P. Credi, ed., An Invitation to Sol... More

60 unnumbered pages. Tall 8vo (205 x 99 mm.), pictorial semi-stiff wrappers, upper wrapper covered in braille text, staple-bound. [Paris: 1993].

A scarce catalogue, with a beguiling upper cover bearing braille text. It describes 335 items, including works by Andre, Bloom, Boltanski, Boutin, Broodthaers, Fulton, Gette, Le Gac, LeWitt, Nam June Paik, Nauman, Wegman, Weiner, etc., etc. The braille cover is an original work by Barbara Bloom created for this catalogue, and the text, from Barthes’s “La Chambre Claire,” is translated on the inside wrapper.

In fine condition. The braille text is understandably a bit rubbed. More