Wood-engraved frontis. [3]-106, [1] pp. Small 8vo (150 x 94 mm.), orig. printed wrappers (a little worn), title on spine, leaves uncut. Paris: Giroux & Vialat, 1848.

First edition, in its original printed wrappers, of a scarce account of the 1848 Revolution, published several months after the uprising’s turbulent events. This staunchly Republican work commemorates the sacrifices of generals and troops who died during the worker revolt in Paris. There are accounts of the deaths of Generals Bréa, Négrier, Duvivier, Damesme, Bourgon, Regnault, and François. The final 30 pages concern the life and tragic death of Denys Auguste Affre, archbishop... More

Ten columns per page, 18 characters per column. 49; 55 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo (280 x 198 mm.), orig. brown wrappers (upper cover of Vol. I somewhat soiled, wrappers of Vol. II a little wormed), new stitching. [Japan, perhaps on Mount Hiei: ca. 1600-40].

An extremely rare movable type edition; not in Kawase or Sorimachi. WorldCat locates only a copy, at Kyoto University. Our copy comes from the famous collection of Toshie Obama with his seal at the foot of the first leaf of Vol. I.

Chih yun was a disciple of Tiantai Zhiyi (538-97), one of the most... More

50 full-page woodcut illus. 37 folding leaves. Large 8vo (290 x 200 mm.), orig. semi-stiff wrappers with original title slip (somewhat worn), old stitching. Keijō (Seoul): Ch’oe Hŭng-ku 崔興九 (printer), 1919.

A rare religious primer, instructing common people about the life and deeds of Confucius. Our book opens with a genealogy of Confucius. This is followed by other materials related to him, including a list of his disciples. The favorite disciple Yanzi 顏子 is depicted in an illustration. Miraculous events follow, such as a unicorn (lin 麟) spitting jade, heralding the birth of Confucius; a heavenly choir; and... More

32 fine full-page woodcuts. 42 folding leaves. Large 8vo, orig. blue wrappers (wrappers rather rubbed, minor soiling), modern manuscript label on upper cover, new stitching. [Japan]: from the Japanese colophon on the penultimate leaf: “Nakano Zesui had the woodblocks carved & published this book mid-July 1655.”

First edition to be published in Japan, printed in Chinese with Japanese reading marks. Yongming Yanshou (J.: Eimei (or Yomei) Enju, 904-75), was a Chan master who had a profound impact on the development of Buddhism in East Asia. Yanshou was a widely influential proponent of a scripture-based Chan, in opposition to the rhetorical... More

20 fine brush & black ink drawings of deities & several smaller images. Scroll (290 x 11,980 mm.), delicately ruled in gray ink, wooden roller. [Japan]: 17th-18th century copy?

A copy of the eighth scroll from the ten-scroll set known alternatively as “Zuzōshō” 図像抄 [“Annotated Drawings”] or “Sonyōshō” 尊容抄 [“Annotations on the Noble Countenances [of the Deities Depicted]”], along with “Jikkanshō” 十巻抄 [“Annotations of Ten Scrolls”]. Our scroll is also entitled on outside of scroll “Sho myōō” 諸明王 [“The Various Wisdom Kings”]. The original was made in Japan in 1139-1140 CE (Hoen 5), towards the end of the Heian period... More

65 full-page & four double-page woodcuts. 32; 57; 53; 59 folding leaves. Four vols. 8vo, orig. gray wrappers (wrappers a little tired), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. Kyoto: Sawada Kichizaemon 澤田吉左衞門, 1703.

Rare edition of this guide to a famous Japanese Pure Land mandala. In the Preface to our book, dated 1702 (Genroku 15), Gizan recounts how his old friend, the lay believer Mujin 無塵, who had obtained a supreme paint powder in nine shades as a gift from the deity Kuma no gongen 熊野権現 when a rock split next to his house, wanted... More

14 parts in 13 vols. Large 8vo, orig. patterned wrappers (rubbed), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers (rubbed), new stitching. [Japan: 1648-52].

An early and rare edition of this highly influential commentary on the Tsurezuregusa [Notes from Leisure Hours] of Yoshida Kenko 吉田兼好 (ca. 1282-1350). Yoshida’s greatest masterpiece, it is a nonfictional prose work — zuihitsu — containing miscellaneous reflections and observations that continues to be read and loved today. “It can be said that Kenko discovered a couple of centuries before Montaigne that prose was the natural medium for conveying the motions of an inquiring, particularly a self-inquiring... More

Scroll (655 x 1380 mm.; image measurement: 665 x 835 mm.), with endpapers (silk brocade on outside of endpapers), recently & expertly laid-down on new paper. [Japan: after 1847].

The Higashi Hongan-ji Temple is one of the most magnificent temple complexes in Kyoto. Our scroll was created as a celebration of the 1835 completion of the rebuilding of its two main structures, the Goei-do (the founder’s hall) and the Amida-do, which had burned down in Bunsei 6 (1823). The Goei-do hall is one of the largest wooden structures in the world (76 m. long, 58 m. wide, and 38 m.... More

Numerous full-page woodcut illus. Five vols. 8vo, orig. semi-stiff wrappers with the orig. title-slips (wrappers a little scuffed), old stitching. Osaka: Fujiya zenshichi 藤屋善七, [mid- to late Edo period].

An early edition of this work on famous Buddhist temples throughout Japan. In total, around 60 temples are covered. For every temple, there is a history of its founding and related lore, along with illustrations.

Several of the most famous temples of Japan are described. For example, the book discusses the True Pure Land temple Kōgen-ji 向原寺 in Nara prefecture; Tennō-ji 天王寺 in Osaka; Gangō-ji 元興寺, Saidai-ji 西大寺, Tōdai-ji... More

Ten columns per page, 20 characters per column. 52 folding leaves. Large 8vo (280 x 203 mm.), later wrappers, new stitching. [Japan]: colophon dated “1564.”

The earliest surviving edition of one of the “two priceless records of the earlier stages of the Chinese language.”–Edwin G. Pulleyblank, “Qieyun and Yunjing: The Essential Foundation for Chinese Historical Linguistics“ in Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 118, No. 2 (April-June 1998), p. 213. The Yunjing, along with its predecessor, the Qieyun, were the standard pronunciation guides of the Early Middle Chinese and Middle Chinese periods.

This is a very rare book, with... More

Ten columns per page, 20 characters per column. The first leaf in Japanese, the remainder in Chinese. 1 p.l., 52 folding leaves. 8vo (275 x 173 mm.), orig. wrappers (wrappers quite rubbed & and somewhat worn), old stitching. From the colophon: “Kyoto: Tahara Ninzaemon, 1641.”

A very rare early edition — not in WorldCat or NIJL — of one of the “two priceless records of the earlier stages of the Chinese language.”–Edwin G. Pulleyblank, “Qieyun and Yunjing: The Essential Foundation for Chinese Historical Linguistics“ in Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 118, No. 2 (April-June 1998), p. 213. The... More

Two beautifully painted handscrolls on paper (I: 280 x 12,395; II: 280 x 13,290 mm.). [Japan]: 1840 (date of colophon).

It is difficult to overstate the great beauty of these two illustrated scrolls depicting the life of Shinran, a key figure in Japanese Buddhism. The artist, while anonymous, was extremely skilled in portraying scenes from Shinran’s life, employing large amounts of gold, silver, sprays of golden mist (called kindei “golden mud”) to depict clouds, and thick pigments to give 3-D effects. The images show architectural details; complex garden landscapes; the different seasons signalled by colorful flora; richly detailed... More