1. [AINU] TAKABEYA Fukubei. AINU NO SEIKATSU BUNKA. Tokyo, Arusu, Shôwa 17 [1942]. 12mo, boards and cloth. Profusely photo-illustrated guide to the daily life of the Ainu. The captioning is in Japanese. The bookblock is starting to loosen from the binding, but overall good to very good condition. $95.00

2. ANDERSON, William. THE PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. With a Brief Historical Sketch of the Associated Arts, and Some Remarks upon the Pictorial Art of the Chinese and Korean. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, [n.d., circa 1890-1900]. Complete: 80 of 80 plates, some in color, plus numerous text illustrations. Each plate has a tissue guard printed with a line illustration on one side and descriptive text on the reverse. Text is in five parts, with continuous pagination throughout; each part is separated by a section title which is not included in the pagination: xix,276 pp. Folio. Publisher's binding: pictorial green cloth boards stamped in red gilt and black, 1/4 brown morocco, raised bands, (the boards are detached), with the original gilt-titled leather. Interior fine. $575.00

3. [ARCHITECTURE] JÛTAKU EIDAN. SOREN NI OKERU SONRAKU NO FUKKÔ TO NÔSON JÛTAKU. [Japan] Shôwa 21 [1946]. 8vo, bound western-style in wrappers. Published in Japan immediately after the war, this appears to be a translation of a Russian work on village reconstruction and rural housing. With a Japanese text and several fold-out blueprints of construction projects planned or undertaken in Russia, it is an example of the problems and research into solutions undertaken by the Japanese in the wake of wartime devastation of the country. This ephemeral production is by the Jûtaku Eidan, a publically funded agency which addressed housing problems after the war and was a successor to the Dôjunkai, which had been formed for the same purpose after the Great Earthquake. Very unusual - and in very good condition. $95.00

IMPORTANT HISTORICAL ATLAS OF JAPAN

4. [ATLAS, JAPAN] HIYAMA Yoshichika. HONCHÔ ÔKO ENKAKU ZUSETSU (Bansei Taihei & Kokugun Kenchi). 30.5 x 21 cm blue blind-patterned covers with original printed paper title labels. Two volumes. Bound orihon folding album style. The first volume, "Bansei Taihei", appears to be a later edition (issued in 1823) of an historical atlas issued originally in 1815. It contains a series of 11 maps of Japan, describing the state of feudal domains from 1184 to 1615. [See Beans, p.33 for the 1815 issue] It has here been issued together with a second volume. The "Kokugun Kenchi" second volume describes the development of the province system of central imperial control, which predates the feudal ages. The 7 maps range in date from 600 BC to 824 AD. There are some fold-outs which include parts of old Korea in the atlas, which is, of course, as much legendary as it is historical. For more on this volume, see Beans p. 34. Thus our set consists of the first appearance of volume two, along with an early reprint of the first volume. Overall, the impressions and colors are good, the condition is about good, there are several split folds which have been expertly repaired. In a clasped chitsu folding case.
A very unusual work, particularly the second volume. Interesting as a snapshot of an historical moment when the vestiges of the old imperial system were being intellectually recovered - a process that would end in the restoration of imperial rule some 45 years later.SOLD

ONCHI BINDING AND BOOK DESIGN

5. [AVANT-GARDE] OZE Keishi, author; ONCHI Kôshiro, book design. SHIN ROSIA GAKAN/ SILUET NOVOI ROSSII. Tokyo, ARS, Shôwa 5 [1930]. Small square 4to., The title is translatable as "VIEWS OF THE NEW RUSSIA" An exploration of the new Soviet state by Oze. The binding and book design by Onchi is remarkable, capturing the constructivist aesthetic very effectively. Very good in the somewhat rubbed and soiled decorated slipcase. Unusual.  SOLD

6. [BOOKPLATES - JAPAN]. A private collection of exlibris. 56 skillfully designed bookplates in many media by some 30 artists, including Hara Yoshiaki, Sekine Jôji, Ômoto Yasushi, Yamataka Noboru, Takei Takeo, Suzuki Kenji, Ueda Isao, Ohno Takashi, and many others. Printed in woodcut, silkscreen, lithography, etching, etc., etc. A wonderful playground of small-scale graphic art. Perfect condition, tipped-in to a small notebook (21.7 X 15.4 cm) $585.00

7. [BOOKPLATES - JAPAN]. A private collection of exlibris. 60 skillfully designed bookplates in many media by 32 graphic artists, including Kawakami Sumio, Kawanishi Hide, Hashimoto Okiie, Azechi Umetaro, Maekawa Sempan, Hiratsuka Akio, Takei Takeo, Okamoto Yoshimi, Ohno Takashi, and many others (including Dr. Hida Naoto). Printed in woodcut, silkscreen, pochoir, lithography, etching, etc., etc. A wonderful playground of small-scale graphic art. Perfect condition, tipped-in to a small notebook (21.5 X 15.2 cm) Also includes a holiday card from Uchida Ichigoro and a letter from Dr. Hida Naoto. $785.00

8. Cahill, James. The Distant Mountains : Chinese Painting of the Late Ming Dynasty, 1570-1644. Weatherhill, Trumbull, CT (1982). Cloth, 4to, Fine in a dust jacket. $85.00

9. CAHILL, James. PARTING AT THE SHORE. Chinese Painting of the Early and Middle Ming Dynasty, 1368-1580. New York/Tokyo: Weatherhill, (1978). 4to., brown cloth; black & white and color illustrations; 282 pp. Fine, in a lightly worn dust jacket. Out of print. $75.00

10. [CERAMICS] GOMPERTZ, G.ST.G.M. and KIM, Chewon. [ed]. THE CERAMIC ART OF CHINA. London: Faber and Faber, (1961). First edition, with a typed letter from Gompertz to Melvin McGovern, signed by Gompertz. Also the book is signed by Gompertz. 4to, grey cloth; 222pp. with 100 items illustrated. Fine, in a slightly edgeworn dust jacket. $55.00

12. [CHILDREN'S - JAPAN] TAKEI Takeo, editor. Yôji Hyôjun Ehon OHISAMA TO OTSUKISAMA. Tokyo, Shôwa 15 [1940]. Stiff wrappers, about 10" x 7", illustrated in color throughout. The covers and the twelve double-page spreads within are printed after work by several important artists and illustrators including Takei, himself. This is volume 7 of the "Standard Picture Books for Children" series, its title could be translated as MADAM SUN AND MISTRESS MOON. It has a series of fifteen charming depictions of the influence and necessity of the sun and moon on our daily lives. No sign of the Imperial sun worship of the time save an explicit pictorial juxtaposition of the ancient Egyptians and modern Japanese worshipping the sun. The moon comes in to the picture at the very end, as a guide for children on dark streets at night. The text is by Takei. The covers are a bit rubbed and slightly stained and soiled, but overall a good copy of this extremely ephemeral publication. $545.00

13. [CHILDREN'S - JAPAN]. Yônen Kagaku Ehon DÔBUTSU NO UCHI. Tokyo, Seibundô Seikôsha, Shôwa 16 [1941]. This book, entitled "Among the Animals" in translation, is from the "Childern's Picture Books for Science" series. Forty-two pages of color pictures and stories written using the simplified katakana syllabary. 25.2 x 26 cm. Bound western-style, side-stapled in paper wrappers - though only the top wrap is now present. A very unusual and very ephemeral production done a few months before Pearl Harbor, it is quite charming. Offered as is because of the missing back wrapper, but otherwise in good condition on browning paper with a mild crease in the front cover. $240.00

LOVELY PANORAMA OF SINGAPORE AND VIEW OF BANGOK

14. CRAWFURD, JOHN. JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY FROM THE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF INDIA TO THE COURTS OF SIAM AND COCHIN CHINA; EXHIBITING A VIEW OF THE ACTUAL STATE OF THOSE KINGDOMS. London: Colburn and Bently, 1830. Second edition. Two vols. All plates and maps have been aggregated to the front of each volume. All maps, plates and illustrations are present with the exception of the map of China-Cochin. Professionally rebound in 3/4 simulated leather and brown cloth. An ex-library stamp on each title page and minor soiling to a few leaves, otherwise a pleasant set. $650.00

15. [CREPE PAPER] BRENTANO'S, NEW YORK. THE MONTHS OF JAPANESE LADIES. Tokyo, Hasegawa, Meiji 36 [1903].  Second Printing.  Color woodblock printed throughout with a double-page image and calendar for each month.  Tassel-bound, Japanese style on crepe-paper. However the Japanese pages, which should all be folded and joined along the fore-edge to the following page, have all been opened. The result is that there are two blank pages between each double-page illustration and that there are many dog-eared corners throughout.  Good impressions but with occasional light spotting in some illustrations.  The back cover has shows light soiling and a bit of dampstaining.  One of the more unusual examples of the crepe-paper genre, this title was printed for Brentano's Book Store in New York City.  $150.00

16. [DESIGN] Furuya KÔRIN, artist. SHIMA SHIMA. 2 vols. Kyoto: Unsôdô, Meiji 39 [1906]. 24.9 x 17.9 cm. Striped covers, printed paper labels, tassel-bound, Japanese style, fukuro-toji. 40 pages of abstract "stripe"-themed color woodcut printed designs by Kôrin, next to Sekka the most eminent of the designers associated with Unsôdô. In very good condition throughout, complete as issued, in a later clasped cloth chitsu. SOLD

FURUYA KÔRIN'S FINEST DESIGN WORK

17. [DESIGN] Furuya Kôrin, designer. SHASEI SÔKA MOYÔ 2 vols. Kyoto: Unsôdô, Meiji 40 [1907]. Folding orihon albums, 24.9 x 18 cm. Printed paper over card covers, each volume with 25 double page color woodblock prints of vegetal and flower designs by the important designer Kôrin. Lavishly printed and overprinted in metallic inks and mineral pigments to create a remarkable ornate surface. Perhaps the most unusual and sought-after of Furuya Kôrin's works, here in good printing and excellent condition. Complete in two volumes, as issued. SOLD

18. [DESIGN] Furuya KÔRIN. SEIKA. Kyoto, Unsôdô, Meiji 36 [1903]. Tall folio folding album, 36.8 X 24.9 cm, Double-page table of contents and final colophon page. The latter indicates this is a "saihan", a reprint done a month after the first printing. There are 12 large double-page designs in color woodcut by Furuya Kôrin, one of the most important of Unsôdô's early neo-Rimpa designers. Superbly printed by Unsôdô in intense colors, metallic inks, etc.
There are one or two internal spots, and the covers are a bit worn, but overall a nice copy of a stunning and very scarce book. This book should be and will be ranked right along Sekka's as a masterpiece of the genre. $3,600.00

19. [DESIGN] FURUYA Kôrin. [Date Moyô HANA NO TSUKUSHI]. Kyoto, Yamada Unsôdô, Meiji 38 [1905]. Oblong modified orihon, 18.3 X 25 cm. 25 pages of color woodblock printed designs (2 designs per page) by Kôrin, one of the best known and most revered of the Unsôdô designers. Metallic pigments and bright colors add to the vibrancy of these Neo-Rimpa patterns. The covers have lost their woodblock printed title, but this is the work known as HANA NO TSUKUSHI: DATE MOYÔ. Includes the original colophon and is complete internally - Unsôdô design book titles were often only placed on the front cover at that time so the loss of the paper overlay has effectively removed the title. Good condition internally, very good impressions and colors. $750.00

20. [DESIGN] KADOKAWA Keishû, designer. YACHIGUSA Maki no Shichi. Suso Moyô no Bu. Kyoto, Honda Unkindô. Meiji 35 [1902]. 25 x 17.8 cm., string-bound Japanese-style, fukuro-toji, title label printed directly on the patterned covers. Part 7 of a series of kimono designs, published by the important design house, Unkindô. This one is done for the "skirt design" section. (For more on this genre of design volumes, see the recent catalogue of the design book exhibition, done at Stanford, ZUANCHÔ IN KYOTO). With 30 beautifully printed color woodblock prints. Very good condition, fine impressions and colors. $485.00

21. [DESIGN]. PAPER DESIGN ALBUM. 20 Pages of paper samples, heavily printed and over printed using woodblock, stencil, etc. mounted in an orihon folding album cloth over board covers, 34 x 27.2 cm. There are a total of 130 samples of various sizes. Many are captioned in Japanese. Each page has the same [??-Hô] seal. Probably put together in the post-war period in Kyoto. Overall condition is very good, printings daring and creative. $650.00

22. [DESIGN] SHIN ZUAN, Maki no Shichi: Kyoto, Nakayasu Shinsaburô, Meiji 25 [1892]. 24.4 x 16.5 cm. Cord- bound Japanese-style (fukuro toji). Printed paper covers, 12 single page color woodcuts after designs by Kamisaka Sekka [3] and others. This is volume 7 of the series, NEW DESIGNS. Engraved by Fujimura Shinjirô and printed by Takagi Gensuke, it is a fine example of the art of book making in middle Meiji. The impressions are fresh and very good. The overall condition is about good. $275.00

23. [DESIGN] Various artists [Furuya Kôrin, et al.]. NIPPON 1. Tassel-bound Japanese-style. Title printed directly on the decorated covers. 24 x 16.3 cm. 100 full page color designs from the period 1900-1910. Though undated with no publisher or place or designer indicated, it was most probably printed in Kyoto, either by Unkindô or Unsôdô. Several of the designs seem to have been done by Furuya Kôrin. A bit of wear to the covers, but internally very good in very good impression. A wonderful example of the genre with some use of metallic inks, etc. SOLD

24. [EARTHQUAKE] Mori Mitsuchika. ANSEI FÛBUN SHÛ. 3 vols. Zekuntei, publisher. [n.p., n.d. - Edo?, the preface is dated Ansei 3 - 1856] 24.8 x 16.8 cm. String-bound, Japanese-style, fukuro-toji in paper covers with original printed paper title labels. A "jitsuroku" (an accurate account) of the devastating earthquake of the Ansei era. Before, during and after depictions in color woodcut (including one panoramic double foldout in volume two) and text of the event. According to Toda (p.256) this privately published work was illustrated by Yoshitsuna and the title page says it was edited by Kinton Dôjin.
It is an important primary resource, one of the three jitsuroku done privately on the disasters of Ansei. Complete in three volumes. Ryerson 295, Duret 536. A bit worn, with pasted on collector's notes in a neat late-19th century French hand. Good impressions, overall good condition. SOLD

25. [EHON - BOTANICAL]. MATSUBARAN-FU. No publisher, Japan, Tempô 7 [1836]. 22.6 x 16 cm. Original orange covers, printed paper title label. [Unread] collector's labels. 3 page preface, signed by Shôin Gaishi, dated 1836. 10 pages of description, 60 pages of color woodblock printed images of potted plants. A 4 page postface signed Chôseisha Shujin.
The technique of growing Matsubaran [whisk ferns, psilotum nudum] as potted plants in Japan goes back to the 1770's and had become very popular by the 1830's. This delicately printed quite delightful book is a document of that vogue and of the cultural world of late Edo that supported it. Very unusual work, probably privately printed by a group of enthusiasts, here in excellent impression and colors. Not in Brown, Mitchell, Toda/Ryerson or Hillier. Good condition overall. SOLD

26. [EHON - FACSIMILE] KAIGAI IBUN. A strange tale from overseas, or a new account of America compiled by Maekawa Bunzo and Sakai Junzo from the narrative of Hatsutaro, a Japanese castaway. Translated by Richard Zumwinkle, assisted by Tadanobu Kawai. Illustrated by Morizumi Sadateru. Los Angeles: Dawson's Book Shop, 1970. First edition, 1/900 copies. 8vo., blue cloth, 143pp. In mint condition. $65.00

FROM DURET'S COLLECTION

27. [EHON] Akatsuki KANENARI. OGURA HYAKUSHÛ RUIDAI BANASHI. Osaka: Kawachiya Heishichi, Bunsei 5 [1823] 25.5 x 18 cm. Original covers with printed paper title slips, bound into Duret collection brocade. Please refer to Hillier p.861, Toda/Ryerson p.285, Brown p.79 & Kerlen 515. An excellent example of Duret's collection - superb color, condition and impression in a deluxe protective binding, preserving the original covers. An important book in its own right, by no means common, it records amusing poetic asides on the traditional 100 poet canon lavishly illustrated in Tempô era colors. Complete: $6,250.00

28. [EHON] Enkatei Yoshikuri, artist. Ukiyo Fûryû MOJI-E KAGAMI Shohen. Owari [Nagoya] Tôhekidô & Settsu Senryûkei, Tempô [zodiacal date of 1836]. 22.3 x 15.6 cm. Illustrated throughout in b+w woodcut. 19 sheets, bound fukuro-toji style in string bound original covers with printed paper title label. A fascinating book for several reasons:

This edition, which reprints the original 1685 edition, only one copy of which appears in the KSSM, appears also in KSSM, but only the "second collection", not this "first collection". It does also appear as a footnote reference in THE IDEA OF WRITING: PLAY AND COMPLEXITY by De Voogt & Finkel. Neither does this edition, published by Tôhekidô [Eirakuya Tôshiro], appear in Forrer's excellent work on that publisher.

It is a copy from the collections of both Bing and Duret with their respective label and seal.

Besides its obvious bibliographical interest and rarity, viewed from the point of view of content, it is a very interesting work which explores the "moji-e" genre, the wonderful visual punning vehicle which combines the shape and meaning of characters. In this case, the moji-e visually explore the theme of trades and occupations, giving an insight into daily life in Japan as well as into the playfulness inherent in the Japanese literary language. A nice copy in the original covers. Fair to good impression. SOLD

29. [EHON] Hanabusa Itchô. GUNCHÔ GA-EI. Kyoto, Zeniya Shôbei; Osaka, Kashiwabaraya Yozaemon; Edo, Wakabayashi Seibee, An-ei 7 [1778]. Three vollumes, in vintage covers with brushed title labels after the originals in form, string-bound, Japanese-style, fukuro toji. 17.6 x 25.9 cm. Well-printed b+w woodcut images, in a light and quick style, interpreted by Suzuki Rinsho after designs by the estimable Itchô (1652-1724), all of whose books are posthumous. It is a lovely work; and this is a pleasant early impression. The copy at Ryerson 329 was published by Yamashiroya Sahei. Our copy, though it shares the same date of publication, differs in its publisher(s) as noted above. Slight wear to the covers, and one figure's face is abraded away, but overall in good or better condition This is the Hayashi/Henri Riviere copy. Toda/Ryerson p.329, Hillier p.220, Brown p.56, Odin 65. SOLD

FROM ARTHUR WESLEY DOW'S LIBRARY

30. [EHON] Ichiryûsai HIROSHIGE. [Shôkoku] MEISHO HOKKU SHÛ. Tôto [Edo], Tôkaidô. 18.2 x 12 cm. String-bound Japanese style fukuro-toji. This is volume 3 of a series of 4. Two-color and sumi-e woodcut prints throughout. Original covers and title label. Distinguished by the fact that this volume is FROM THE LIBRARY OF THE IMPORTANT AMERICAN ARTIST, PRINTMAKER AND PEDAGOGUE ARTHUR WESLEY DOW and has his library numbered label on the front cover upon which he wrote his initials in pencil. There is rubbing and spotting to the covers and title label, the impressions and colors are good, condition is very good internally. Very important association item as Dow was responsible for educating a whole generation of American artists in Japanese aesthetics. $750.00

FROM ARTHUR WESLEY DOW'S LIBRARY

31. [EHON] Ichiryûsai HIROSHIGE. TÔKAIDÔ FÛKEI ZUE. Tôto [Edo], Kaei 4 [1851]. 17.9 x 11.8 cm. String-bound Japanese style fukuro-toji. This is volume 4 of a series of 4 (First series 1&2; Second series 1&2). It consists of 36 + 3 chô. Two-color and sumi-e woodcut prints throughout. Original covers and title label. Distinguished by the fact that this volume is FROM THE LIBRARY OF THE IMPORTANT AMERICAN ARTIST, PRINTMAKER AND PEDAGOGUE ARTHUR WESLEY DOW and has his library numbered label on the front cover. There is a bit of rubbing to the covers, the impressions and colors are good, condition is very good internally. Important association item as Dow was responsible for educating a whole generation of American artists in Japanese aesthetics. SOLD

32. [EHON] Itô Jakuchû, artist. JAKUCHÛ GAJÔ. Kyoto: Unsôdô, n.d. 2 Vols., Orihon in paper-covered boards with printed paper title labels. 82 plates. Each volume is 31 X 20.7 cm, volume one contains 40 single page "ishizuri" stone-rubbing style prints [white on black] based on Jakuchû designs and volume two has 42. (This differs from the Ryerson/ Mitchell copy which was said to have 34 and 44 prints. Perhaps a Mitchell mistake? - the collation of every set we have handled always adds up to 82 prints, not 78.) In any case a lovely and well printed album of striking designs. Some slight occasional foxing of the paper, as is usual with this work. Though undated this work probably dates from the first decade of the 20th century, the heyday of Unsôdô creativity. Complete with the front panel of the original paper fukuro jacket laid in. Based on the designs from the virtually unobtainable GEMPO YOKA of the mid-18th century, one of the great rarities of the Japanese ehon genre. A worthy reconstruction. SOLD

33. [EHON] KACHÛ SHÔ [Xia Chang 1388-1470], artist. Kachû Shô I-I BOKUCHIKU SHINAN Zen. Dark green paper covers with printed paper title label. String-bound Japanese-style, fukuro-toji. 26.3 x 19.1 cm. Originally printed in Japan in 1799, this revised version was issued in 1821 as a compilation of designs of bamboo by the Chinese master of the Ming Era, Xia Chang. A "shinan" or instruction book for students of painting techniques. Printed in sumi-e. Good printing, very good condition overall. $275.00

34. [EHON] Kameda BÔSAI, artist. KYÔCHÛZAN. Grey-green karazuri figured covers and black on pink printed paper label. String-bound Japanese-style, fukuro toji. The collation follows example "A" at Mitchell 383-4, save for the following: 26.1 x 18.3 cm; all sheets are unnumbered; the seals are printed in red, there is a colophon on the inside of the back cover citing Suharaya Shimbei of Edo as the publisher and the publication date as the fifth month of Bunka 6 [1809], though all other internal evidence, i.e. prefaces, closing notes, etc., are dated by the zodiacal date corresponding to 1816. Thus, another bibliographical perplexity is added to the long list surrounding this wonderful work. Though many articles have been written and differences between variants catalogued, there is surely more that needs to be said on the subject. Besides the bibliographic niceties involved this copy captures perfectly the artistry and fun of the "MOUNTAINS OF THE HEART", perhaps the most famous of all Nanga school ehon. A very nice printing with lovely colors on the creamy paper of the better editions. About fine in a clasped chitsu case. SOLD

35. [EHON] Kamei TÔKEI, artist. TÔKEI GAFU Fusatsu. No colophon, the afterword is dated Bunka 6 [1809]. 26.7 x 18.6 cm. Yellow-brown blind-stamped patterned covers, no title label, brushed title on front cover ["TÔKEI GAFU Jin"], string-bound Japanese style. A copy of the elusive "supplementary volume" of the TÔKEI GAFU, cited by Brown and Holloway, but not located by Mitchell. Though Mitchell cites Ryerson, Brown and Holloway for his 3 volume example "B" of the GAFU, printed in 1787, actually only the Ryerson catalogue describes such a set - Brown and Holloway seem to have believed that the the third volume did not appear in any form until 1809. It would be well to re-examine the catalogued Ryerson entry itself in order to determine if there was in fact an example "b" at all, especially given that Holloway states that the first two volumes were re-issued when the third, "supplementary" volume appeared. The ads bound into the back of this volume are from Kawachiya Yahei and significantly list the TÔKEI GAFU as consisting of only two volumes. In any case an externally worn copy with a bit of internal worming of this scarce book. The sumi-e woodblock designs are memorable, the impressions good. SOLD

36. [EHON] Kanô TANYÛ, artist. EHON HYAKUMA ZU [IMAGES OF ONE HUNDRED HORSES]. Tôto [Edo]: Shôkodô, Suharaya Saburôbei, Tsuruya Kiemon. Temmei 7 [1787]. 23.3 x 16.2 cm. Bound 2 volumes in one in european limp leather covers, without the original Japanese paper covers and title labels. Internally complete, with the title page, 1 prefatory signature, 20 image signatures in volume one and 21 in volume two, with the colophon and final ad page. The printing is lovely, and save some slight edgewear to the intial and final added European endpapers, in quite good condition. The blocks were designed by one Eishisai, after Tanyû designs. Lively black and white woodblock abbreviated studies of "100 Horses". Very unusual piece, not located in the KSSM, nor in any of the standard Western references. SOLD

37. [EHON] Katsushika HOKUSAI. Denshin Kaishu HOKUSAI MANGA. Vols. 1-10. approx. 22.8 x 15.9 cm. String-bound Japanese style, fukuro toji, printed paper labels. All volumes have the prefatory subtitle "Denshin Kaishu".
Hokusai was staying in Nagoya for a while in 1812 when he made arrangements to publish a volume of his sketches. This volume, titled Denshin Kaishu HOKUSAI MANGA, was conceived as standing on its own when it appeared in 1814. It was only after the volume became immensely popular that Hokusai and Eirakuya agreed to extend the set to ten volumes, which appeared episodically until Bunsei 2 [1819].

The series of 10 was continued after a hiatus by volumes 11 & 12 during Hokusai's lifetime, then 13-15 were published posthumously, the last in the 1870's! But we should confine ourselves to these first ten volumes, published between 1812 and 1819.

The original set of ten (the first series):

The set on offer here has a consistent element - the combination of 2 advertisements in it which are called the A1, 01 combination, according to the bibliographical study done by Matthi Forrer, published in his EIRAKUYA TÔSHIRÔ, Publisher at Nagoya. This dates all 10 volumes as being published in the late 18-teens or early 1820's, probably 1819-21 or so. That makes these very early impressions chronologically. For example volume one has neither the tobira title nor the printed "shohen" title of later issues. That said, the MANGA was not designed or intended to be reprinted thousands of times and even these early (chronological) impressions are a bit worn, especially the early volumes. As one would imagine, the younger the volume, the better the impressions, as they all appear to have been printed at about the same time. Overall, the impressions qualify as fair to good.

Printed in b+w woodcut with tinted blocks. All volumes are in the blind wave-patterned covers of Eirakuya Tôshirô in matching size and format, with the varying colors of the first edition set. The set is clean and in generally good or better condition, with wear and abrasion to some original title labels. Such early matching sets have become nearly impossible to find.

Finally, the set is enclosed in a brocade covered clasped chitsu case, the inside of which is covered by a collage of original fukuro jackets for the set of 10 from the original printings [save the first volume which appears to be a fukuro from a bit later issue, which lists only Tôhekidô as the publisher and names the first volume "shohen"]. It may be assumed that someone [Eirakuya?] commissioned the collage using stored early fukuro. Perhaps unique as such and certainly an important find. SOLD

38. [EHON] Katsushika HOKUSAI. Denshin Kaishu IPPITSU GAFU Zen. Kyoto: Unsôdô. Meiji 45 [1912] 23.5 x 16.0 cm. String-bound Japanese-style, buff paper covers with firm's pattern, printed paper title label. Originally published in the 1820's, this copy was issued after Unsôdô obtained the plates and right of publication, presumably from Eirakuya Tôshiro in Nagoya. Complete as issued, color illustrations in an abbreviated "ryakuga" style, the conceit being that they were done with one stroke ("ippitsu") of the brush. Fair to good impression, colors and good condition overall. $160.00

FROM THE LIBRARY OF ARTHUR WESLEY DOW

39. (EHON) KAWANABE Kyôsai [Gyôsai] GYÔSAI GADAN. Tokyo: Iwamoto Shun, Meiji 20 [1887]. 25.4 x 17.6 cm. 4 volumes, string-bound Japanese-style in printed covers with paper labels. All in a folding clasped chitsu box with a colorful woodblock printed label. Printed in sumi and light colors throughout. This famous artist's autobiography and copybook provides a remarkable insight into the world of the traditional arts in mid-Meiji Japan by their foremost practitioner. Though this work is not uncommon, the impressions in this copy are very good (Conder's heron has most of its fine detail). There is skillful repair of the chitsu hinges but the book itself is a very good copy. From the library of Arthur Wesley Dow, with his library label and number. As issued: $2,450.00

40. [EHON] Keisai EISEN, artist. BUYÛ SAKIGAKE ZUE; BUYÛ SAKIGAKE ZUE Nihen. Nagoya: Eirakuya Tôshiro. Two series (all published) of these powerful warrior books in early sumi impression. Referring to Forrer's book on Eirakuya, we find that the first series is a very early reprint of the 1838 original printing, probably from the late 1830s, with the ad combination C4/21. The second series accords with Forrer's first printing, including the ad sequence D/31. It should be said that our second volume has one small difference from the copy of the first impression described by Forrer. His copy, as described, listed ten books on the last inner page, verso, the last of which is volume 5 of the SHINJI ANDO. Our copy has that last book as volume 2 of the SHINJI ANDO. If truly different it would seem to give our copy priority but perhaps the Forrer description is in error. In any event, bibliographic minutiae aside, these copies are very well printed and in good condition overall, despite some worming in volume 2. Bound in Eirakuya's usual orange covers. Sorimachi/Spencer p.131. Interestingly, these are by no means common books in any condition or state. In good state and condition, complete, they are very unusual. SOLD

41. [EHON] Keisai Kitao Masayoshi, artist. [JIMBUTSU] RYAKUGASHIKI. Published in Edo by Suharaya Ichibei, Kansei 7 [1795]. Complete, as described at Mitchell p.453 with 60 illustrations, b+w & color. With the original light peach-colored cover. No printed title label. An interesting early issue with soft paper and mild rich colors. However, the condition is less than perfect. Though complete, this copy has some soiling and edgewear, the occasional spot of ink and some worming. Its original humor and skill are still there, but it is priced according to its lesser condition. $850.00

43. [EHON] KEISAI Masayoshi, artist. CHÔJU RYAKUGASHIKI. Edo, Kyoto, Nagoya & Osaka. Originally published in Edo by Suharaya Ichibei in 1797, this more darkly colored undated version may well be from the 1830's. String-bound, Japanese-style, fukuro-toji, 24.9 x 17.9 cm. Overall this later printing is helped by the fact that the designs are bold and simple - the printings remain crisp. Elephants, frogs and falcons; bugs, fish and mythological beasties - they are depicted with economy and humor. Perhaps the most creative of all Masayoshi's RYAKUGASHIKI. The covers are soiled, the printed title label mostly illegible. There is some spotting and worming inside. Priced accordingly. The most unusual of all his simple drawing books. Great fun. See the NYPL copy online at http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?parent_id=743601&word=       In a clasped chitsu folding case.      SOLD

44. [EHON] Keisai Masayoshi, artist. GYÔKAI RYAKUGA-SHIKI. Tôto [Edo]: Suharaya Ichibee, Kyôwa 2 [1802]. 1 volume, complete, original covers with printed title label, 26.6 X 18.2 cm, string-bound Japanese-style, fukuro toji. Title page credits Shinshôdô [Suharaya Ichibei]. See Mitchell p.517 for a concise explanation of the complex bibliography concerning this work, originally published in 1802 as TATSU NO MIYA TSUKO, complete with haiku verses, here eliminated. The version with a title like this one, without verses, usually has a colophon dated 1813. This copy conforms to the early [1802] issue described by Hayashi and it is published by the same publisher as the impression with poems and TATSU title. Comparison with a 1802 version with the poems intact show near-identical plate wear. [Also see Hillier, vol.1, pp.478-9] There are 30 double page color woodcuts of fish and shellfish. A classic naturalistic work reminiscent of Ryûsui's UMI NO SACHI. Our copy is an excellent example, well-printed, with good colors and mica. An important and unusual work, here in an early variant edition. Complete as issued. SOLD

45. [EHON] Keisai Masayoshi [Artist] SANSUI RYAKUGA SHIKI. Edo: Suwaraya Ichibei. Kansei 12 [1800]. 26.1 x 18.1 cm. Faded, chipped and soiled original light blue covers. The original title label is present, but much faded and abraded. Complete in one volume. 29 single-page and 15 double-page color illustrations. Ref. Brown p.124; Mitchell p.460,1; 93,4; Ryerson p.213; Hillier pp. 477,8, 480. This copy is well handled and thumbed. The printing is good or better, and the color scheme leans to the delicate light blue, with sumi shading. The Sansui Ryakugashiki is one of Keisai's loveliest books. Complete: $975.00

IMPORTANT UTAMARO KYÔKABON

46. [EHON] Kitagawa UTAMARO. KYÔGETSUBÔ. Tôto [Edo], Kôshodô, Kansei [zodiacal date of 1789]. 25.5 x 19 cm. Orihon folding album in original cover with printed paper title label. Five double-page woodblock printed illustrations in colors, silver and gold. It is a lavish and impeccably printed kyôkabon which represents a cornerstone in the history of Japanese illustrated book production and is one of the two or three finest of Utamaro's creations in the genre. I would simply refer you to the standard works in the field for more on this amazing book. Our copy is very well printed with lovely subtle colors. Despite a bit of soiling and some old skillful worming repairs, it is a lovely copy. SOLD

47. [EHON] Kitao SHIGEMASA [attributed to]. ONNA BÔKUN OSHIE GUSA Zen. n.p., n.d. [Edo: Maekawa Rikuzaemon, Kansei 2 (1790)] Original dark blue covers with printed paper title labels. 26.7 X 18.2 cm. A practical guide to woman's etiquette, with furigana included to allow easier reading. Includes an interesting section on the marriage ceremony. Profusely illustrated in an ukiyo-e style in black and white woodcut. Overall good condition in worn covers, fair to good impressions. [Attributions, etc., courtesy of R. Sawers] Not in Ryerson, Brown, Mitchell or Hillier. Not found, at least not under this title, in KSSM. Obviously unusual. $1,200.00

BING COLLECTION SHIGEMASA

48. [EHON] Kitao SHIGEMASA. EHON KAGAMI GUSA 2 vols. 21.5 x 15.4 cm. Original flower-printed covers with original printed title labels. N.D., printed by Nishimura Genroku. A book with the same title (but written with different kanji) is cited in KSSM as published in Meiwa 5 [1768] but from a different publisher and in three volumes. The Nishimura Genroku catalogue at the end of our volume 2 lists the current book EHON KAGAMI GUSA (with the proper kanji) as complete in 2 volumes. One can assume that this work is actually a different work from the one which appears in the KSSM with the same (pronunciation of the) title by Shigemasa, as another work advertised by Genroku in the book catalogue at the end of our volumes as "to be printed soon" actually appeared in the late 1780s. So, I would date this volume as appearing in the late 1780s, when Shigemasa was in his 40s, rather than the 1768 work from the KSSM. A lovely book on a small scale populated with historical and contemporary figures with an innocence and a "look" reminiscent of Sukenobu. Slight internal soiling, good sumi-e impressions throughout. Internally complete collation. Obviously very scarce and interesting, especially as this is the Bing collection copy. $2,850.00

REMARKABLE MEIJI ERA PRINTING

49. [EHON] Ôkyo, Soken, Gôshun, Nangaku, Keibun, Sosen, etc. SHÛBI GAKAN, 2 vols. Meiji 22 [1889] Osaka: Shibakawa Mataemon, et al. 28.9 x 18.7 cm. Cloth flexible covers, printed title labels, in original brocade covered clasped chitsu case. A collection of 50 pages of color-woodblock prints (and one page of calligraphy) after designs by some of the finest Japanese artists of the later`Edo period, here printed at the beginning of the great woodblock printing revival of the Meiji 20's. The skill level is amazing - one of the finest color printed books of the late 19th century in Japan. Comparing this work to the illustrious anthology MEIKA GAFU done almost exactly 75 years earlier is enormously instructive as to the continuities and transformations of Japanese aesthetics during its early intensive exposure to the West. Identical collation to the copy catalogued at pp. 491, 492 in Mitchell. Save for the wear to the chitsu, a beautiful copy. By no means common, despite its Meiji date. SOLD

50. [EHON] Ôta Saburô, artist. ASA GIRI Tokyo, Meiji 45 [1912]. 2 volumes, string-bound Japanese style, 19.1 x 13 cm. Each volume contains 35 color prints with a facing page of text. The prints appear to be a hybrid of lithography and color woodcut. [See Hillier's discussion of the book in his ART OF THE JAPANESE PRINTED BOOK]. These small volumes constitute a truly remarkable work and they are an important example of the Japanese picture book genre in the twentieth century.
Our copy is in very good condition overall, with almost none of the foxed pages this book usually displays. It is enclosed in the original publisher's box with a printed title label and is one of the nicer copies we have seen. Unusual in such excellent condition. Complete: $1,500.00

51. [EHON] Ôtani Bun'i, compiler. NANIWA KIPPÔ-FU 2 vols.. 18.5 x 12.1 cm. String-bound Japanese-style, fukuro-toji. Blind-patterned light green covers, original printed paper title labels. According to Mitchell (pp. 430-1), this is a recut (in reduced size) later edition of this lovely anthology, which first appeared in Ansei 3 [1856], published by Yusendô of Osaka. There are 40 interesting designs by some of the best Osaka artists of the later Edo period. Mitchell expressed the opinion that this recut edition might have appeared in the early 20th century. In classical Chinese and Japanese. The illustrations are in light colors, some in sumi only. Overall near fine condition, very good or better impressions. Complete as issued. $575.00

SHIJÔ-STYLE KYÔKABON

52. [EHON] Ryûkatei Shojaku, artist and poet. KYÔKA RYÛKA TAWAMUREGUSA-SHÛ. [Ansei 6 (1859)]. 21.8 x 15.1 cm. Green, original blind-patterned covers with printed paper title labels. There are 2 double page and 9 single page charming color woodblock illustrations for the poems in a simple Shijô style. 3 copies are located in KSSM 2, 502. An unusual book of late Edo. $2,500.00

A CLASSIC GAFU

53. [EHON] Satô SUISEKI. SUISEKI GAFU. Bunka 11 [1814]. 25.6 X 18.8 cm. This copy of the first series of Suiseki's gafu of figures is a classic of the Shijô genre, universally praised. [See Mitchell pp 505,6; Hillier Vol.2, pp. 753-6; Holloway 51; Ryerson 379; Brown p.93] This copy is of a very good impression with excellent color. It differs from the Mitchell copy at page 505 as follows:
It has yellow covers and the one page sumi images of pine and bamboo before and after the 40 color pages of "occupations" are replaced by a blank page instead of the pine print and Suiseki's printed signature and seal instead of the bamboo. There is no printed title label. This copy does have the "shotei" seal on the hashira throughout. Finally the colophon does list the same publishers as Mitchell's but Suiseki's name and seal appear the page before (instead of the bamboo design, as above) There is no mention of the nihen and sampen versions to come. The prefatory material and first five color images have very light waterstains. Overall, a very nice copy in a good printing and excellent colors of this cornerstone work of Shijô illustration. A very scarce and important work. $5,850.00

54. [EHON] Tosa no Sôran. TSUKINAMI SHO. N.P. The preface is dated Bunsei 10 [1828]. 22.5 x 16 cm. Yellow covers, a few shreds of the original printed title label remain. The four single-page and eight double-page color woodblock printed illustrations of this poetry album are dedicated to the "events of the twelve months" celebrated during the Heian era and here illustrated in a modified Tosa style with court nobles and ladies, including Genji himself. Tsukinami seems to have been a popular literary device in the Bunsei era (1820s). This work does not appear in any of the standard references, nor in the KSSM. The afterword is written by one Yotsuya-an, a poetical name otherwise related by the KSSM to Kyôka anthologies done in the Kaei and Bunsei periods. Very good printing, delicate colors, good condition internally. Obviously a scarce and ephemeral item, most probably privately printed for a "tsukinami group." $1,250.00

SETTEI'S WOMEN

55. [EHON] Tsukioka Settei. ONNA BUYÛ YOSO-OI KURABE. Edo: Suharaya Mohei & Osaka: Ônogi Ichibei, Meiwa 3 [1766]. 3 vols, string-bound Japanese-style in original covers with printed title labels. 26.8 X 18 cm, complete. Settei here signs himself Tsukioka Masanobu. He is one of the finest and most powerful of the mid-18th century ukiyo-e masters. His line is virile, the compositions daring, the subject of brave and powerful women in history compelling - a thoroughly satisfying work. The first printing was issued in Hôreki 6 [1757], but this later copy is very well printed. Very scarce work - few copies of either edition are located in KSSM. Any works by Settei are unusual, this one even more so. Toda/Ryerson p.331, Brown p.67, Hillier pp251, 285-7. In very good condition overall. SOLD

56. [EHON] Ueda KÔCHÔ, artist. KÔCHÔ GAFU. Osaka: Honya Kichibei & Kawachiya Kihei, Tempô 5 [1834]. Two volumes, yellow covers with original title label, string-bound Japanese-style, fukuro toji. 25.4 x 17.9 cm. Each with 15 unnumbered sheets, lightly colored woodblock printed illustrations throughout, 4 page preface, 2 page final note, colophon. Brown and Holloway are much kinder than Hillier in their assessment of this work. [Mitchell 369; Brown 94; Holloway 68-69] An interesting group of human figures, animals, landscapes, etc., from the sedate to the humorous, in a restrained Shijô-influenced style. The covers are a bit soiled, but the impressions and colors good or better. Complete as issued. $1,250.00

57. [EHON] Watanabe SEITEI, editor. BIJUTSU SEKAI, Daijûsan. Tokyo: Shunyôdô, Meiji 24 [1891]. 25 x 16.3 cm, Cord-bound, printed covers. Edited by the artist Watanabe Seitei. 6 single page and 11 double page color woodcut illustrations by various important artists from the past and others contemporary to the time, from Itchô and Utamaro to Seitei himself. The thirteenth volume of the series ART WORLD, each book of designs standing on its own as a collection. This copy is in good condition, with very good impressions and colors. SOLD

SCARCE AND REMARKABLE EDO PRINTING

58. [EHON] Yamaguchi SÔKEN, et al. GAEN YÛKAKU-SHÛ. Bunka 15 [1818]. 22.5 X 17.1 cm, Beige colors, brushed title label, string-bound Japanese-style, fukuro-toji. 26 unnumbered pages of preliminaries, finals, 12 pages of color prints and poems. Celebratory volume for the 82nd year of one [Senzaiken] "Yûkaku". The artists are important, the art, colors and printing exquisite, the puns come thick and fast in this wonderful Kyôka-bon. A highpoint of Shijô style in book form. The covers are good, if later, the internals a bit soiled, but it is an extraordinarily scarce work. The only copy we have located outside Japan is the Spencer collection copy illustrated by Roger Keyes in his recent book EHON (fig. 26). The KSSM finds but one copy in Japan, at Tôhoku University. SOLD

SÔKEN AT HIS BEST

59. [EHON] Yamaguchi SÔKEN. SÔKEN GAFU Sôka no Bu. 3 volumes, complete. Medium grey paper covers with original printed title labels. String-bound Japanese-style, fukuro-toji. 26.2 x 19.0 cm. Bunka 3 [1806] Illustrated in b+w and grey woodcut throughout. This is perhaps Sôken's most successful ehon - illustrating a series of plants and grasses quite wonderfully. There is much use of block scraping to produce wonderful printing effects, especially on leaves and stems. The difficulty of the printing techniques means that this book always hovers on the edge of aesthetic disaster - when the impressions are good it is very good, when the blocks became worn, the resulting prints often dissolved into pictorial chaos. Ours is very good. I have compared our copy to the Chaikin/Gillot/Hayashi copy which is the benchmark for the book and it holds up very well - the main difference being in the paper - the Chaikin copy being printed on whiter, thinner, harder "chinese-style" paper and this copy being on a heavier, softer, Japanese-style buff paper. As for bibliographic details, our colophon is identical to the Mitchell, etc. copies, save that in ours the names of the Kyoto bookseller/publishers have been excised from the block. A remarkably nice copy of a very scarce and important book.  SOLD

SHIGENOBU'S WOMEN

60. [EHON] Yanagawa SHIGENOBU II. EHON FUJI BAKAMA. 2 vols., Tôto [Edo], Suharaya Môhei et al., Tempô 7 [1836] 15 x 20.7 cm. String-bound Japanese-style, fukuro-toji. Lovely work with many images of famous woman of Japanese history. Volume one has eight and volume two has seven double page color woodblock images in Shigenobu's ukiyo-e style. Bound two volumes in one [gappon] with brocade covers and the remains of a [late 19th century?] handwritten European title label. Originally published in Bunsei 6 [1823]. Illustrated at pp. 785-7 in Hillier's Art of the Japanese Book. The printings and colors are good for this edition. There is some thumbing and soiling to the bottom margins. Good condition overall. Complete. SOLD

61. [EPHEMERA - Matchbox Covers]. A COLLECTION OF ABOUT 1600 JAPANESE MATCHBOX COVERS from the 1930s through the early postwar period. Mounted in a scrapbook album of 112 pages. These matchbox covers offer a dizzying display of Japanese graphic design of the period in miniature. The designs range from traditional ukiyo-e inspired images of geisha and samurai to sleek art deco images that advertise everything from hotels, tea rooms, bars and restaurants, to banks, barbershops, service stations, and factories. The vast majority of the matchbox covers are approximately 3.5 x 5.5 cm, though a few are larger, and all have been laid down in the album, ranging from fourteen to twenty on a page. The album is 30 x 22.8 cm. The album is rubbed and the pages browning, but for all that the covers themselves are quite clean. With two laid-in illustrations (from a magazine perhaps?) of a group of Japanese matchbook collectors. An interesting group of designs. These ephemeral albums of matchbook covers have become quite difficult to find. SOLD

62. [GARDEN] NAKAJIMA Yoshinobu Shunkô. TEIZÔHÔ ZUSHIKI TAIKAN. Zen. Tokyo, Kaishin Shoro, Meiji 44 [1911]. Oblong folio 26.8 X 38.2 cm. Green cloth over boards, gilt, cord-bound. There are 3 full page photo illustrations of gardens, then 32 lithographic pages illustrating garden nomenclature, placement, garden furnishings and completed designs, all with explanatory text in Japanese, for a series of late Meiji Japanese gardens. Very worn inside and out, with the hinges starting, only fair condition. Complete but sold with all faults.  SOLD

63. [GARDENS] SHIGEMORI Sanrei. KYOTO NO TEI-EN. Kyoto, Kôzandô Shoten, Shôwa 11 [1926]. Cloth-bound, Western style, 26.8 x 19.3 cm, small 4to. Gilt on rough silk. Illustrated throughout in collotype by the Nakano Geijutsu-in. About fine condition in the original clapsed chitsu box (one clasp missing). A wonderful survey of the great gardens of Kyoto. Very scarce. SOLD

64. GOSPEL OF ST. MARK. [MINIATURE BOOK - GOSPEL OF] ST. MARK [IN JAPANESE]. [Yokohama:] Bible Societies' Committee [1899]. 167 + [2] pp. 64mo./miniature book, 2 3/4 x 1 3/4 inches, light brown paper covered boards printed in black, red edges, sewn Japanese style. Light soil and rubbing to boards. Complete. $250.00

WITH A GIFT PRINT OF YANG GUIFEI AND THE EMPEROR

65. HALLOCK, H. G. C., Rev. A SOLICITATION LETTER FOR THE ENDEAVORERS' SUNDAY SCHOOL BUILDING PROJECT IN SHANGHAI, DATED 2 AUGUST 1929. A mimeographed letter (28 x 21 cm), signed by H. G. C. Hallock, with a brightly colored woodblock print enclosure, and the original mailing envelope (7.5 x 15.5 cm). The letter and print are both creased for mailing, else fine. The envelope, addressed and postmarked - though the stamps have been removed, show some wear.
The print (32 x 56 cm) shows the famous beauty T'ang dynasty Yang Guifei, here called Kwei-Fei, and the last T'ang emperor getting ready to celebrate the Qixi Festival. The festival, held on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar every year, celebrates the legend of the star-crossed lovers, the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd. Hallock relates the stories of both pairs in his letter before closing with an appeal for money.
Henry Galloway Comingo Hallock (1870-1951) graduated from the Princeton Theological Seminary in 1896. He was a missionary under the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. in China from 1896 until 1951. Besides his pastoral duties and teaching, he founded the National Tract Society for China and edited Hallock's Chinese Almanac. (Shavit, U.S. in Asia, p. 213). $225.00

WHAT WORKING WOMEN WORE

66. HAYASHI, Tadaichi, illustrator. JAPANESE WOMEN'S FOLK COSTUMES. (Tokyo): Ie-no-hikari Association, 1960. 121 illustrations after paintings by Tadaichi Hayashi, printed on 96 pages, of which 61 are in color. One map showing Japanese prefectures. Text in Japanese, but illustrations are captioned in Japanese and English, with an English-language title-page and a nineteen-page section explaining the illustrations at the back of the volume. 170 pages total, including illustrations. Quarto. Publisher's dark grey cloth binding, with Japanese title in silver gilt on spine, and in brown on a silver panel on the upper board; illustrated endpapers. English-language gift inscription on rear free endpaper, else a fine copy. In the color-illustrated English-language dust jacket, which is price-clipped and shows negligible edgewear on spine, in near fine condition. The illustrations present a cross-section of the work clothes traditionally worn by women in farming, mountain, and fishing villages of Japan - entirely different from the formal Japanese kimono. A scarce title. SOLD

67. [HOKKAIDÔ]. NANBURYÔ GUNSON RYAKKI. Manuscript. 2+ page introduction, 3 full pages of a delicately colored continuous map extending from Akita in northeast Honshû up to Matsumae in southern Hokkaidô. With another 28 pages of text detailing family names, places, feudal allotments (koku, villages, etc.) dates of founding (mostly in the Genroku period). All done in a clear hand. Bound fukuro-toji, Japanese-style with a hand-brushed title label. Probably done in the mid 19th century (Bakumatsu era?). Very good condition, in a custom made clasped chitsu case with a hand-brushed title label. $575.00

PERCIVAL LOWELL'S COPY

68. HOWITT, Mary. THE CHILDREN'S YEAR. Illustrated by Anna Mary Howitt. Boston: Crosby, Nichols, Lee and Company, 1861. Reprint. 257 pp. 8vo., blue pebbled cloth stamped in gilt and blind. Boards sunned, worn at corners, heel and crown, spine slightly chipped with pale stain at heel. This is Percival Lowell's copy, a gift to him inscribed from his Aunt on the front flyleaf, with his sister Bessie's pencil signature on the next blank recto. Engraved b/w frontispiece and engraved title page preceding printed title page; plates are from original designs by Anna Mary Howitt. Occasional foxing in the text; a few of the plates are partially detached. Good plus. $85.00

70. KAIKODO. KAIKODO JOURNAL, VOLUMES [I]-XXVI. New York, NY: Kaikodo, Spring 1996 - (Spring 2010). A long run of twenty-six catalogues, numbers 1-26, from an ongoing series issued by Kaikodo, a New York City gallery that offers fine and rare Chinese, Japanese, and Korean paintings and antiquities for sale. Fully illustrated in color and black & white. 29.5 x 21 cm. Uniformly bound in grey paper wrappers, a small color illustration laid-down on upper wrap, title in silver gilt on spine and upper wrap. These are commercial yet scholarly catalogues that accompanied exhibitions at the gallery. Individual items are beautifully photographed and carefully described in detailed entries. Most catalogues are accompanied by independent essays that expand upon the theme of a given exhibition. Contributors include Steven Addiss, James Cahill, Arnold Chang, gallery owner Howard Rogers, and others. Occasional negligible wear to some wrappers, but fine within and near fine overall. SOLD

PUBLISHED BY KODOMO NO KUNI

71. [KODOMO NO KUNI] YAMASHITA Ken-ichi. SHÔGAKU KAGAKU EHON Dai Go-kan KISEN. Tokyo: Tokyo-sha, Shôwa 12. Square 8vo., illustrated cloth. This child's book about steamships is #5 from the famous KODOMO NO KUNI series ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN'S ELEMENTARY SCIENCE BOOKS. Another wonderful work from this important publisher. Near fine, in repaired wrapper. $325.00

72. Kokka-sha. WAKAN MEIGA-SEN [A GALLERY OF CHINESE AND JAPANESE PAINTINGS]. Tokyo, Kokka Publishing Company, Meiji 41 [1908]. [8] ff. preliminaries followed by 100 plates, 28 color and 72 b/w, with a leaf of descriptive letterpress preceding most plates. (In a few instances the descriptive text is for two plates and precedes the first plate.) Dual language text in Japanese and English. Large Folio: 12 x 17 inches. Green brocade covers tied with cord and housed in the original clasped chitsu case. Small amounts of faint foxing on some text pages and the cloth spine is slightly frayed at ends, else a clean and fresh copy. This compilation of masterworks of Japanese and Chinese painting - profusely illustrated in b/w collotype, along with many color woodblock reproductions that made the Kokka Company (along with Shimbi Shoin) one of the premier publishing companies of its day - focuses on Japanese painting from the reign of Empress Suiko to the close of the Tokugawa period and Chinese paintings from the T'ang, Yüan and Sung dynasties - the periods that had the most influence on the Japanese painting presented here. Sixty-five plates of Japanese paintings (nineteen in color) and thirty-five of Chinese paintings (nine in color): a complete copy in near-fine condition. $850.00

73. Lancaster, Clay. THE JAPANESE INFLUENCE IN AMERICA. With an Introduction by Alan Priest. New York: Walton H. Rawls (1963). Original edition. 4to, dark grey cloth; 292pp. With many b&w photographic reproductions. An important work on American "Japonisme", especially as it affected architectural style. Very good, in a dustwrapper. $60.00

74. [LANGUAGE STUDY] KOIDE Seijiro, translator. WEBSTER'S SPELLING BOOK SUPERURINGU KAISEI DOKUANNAI. Osaka, Umehara [sic? Mumehara], Meiji 20 [1887]. 12mo. Bound Western-style , printed paper over boards. ii, 90, i. Heavily illustrated orthographic guide to English, with katakana captions. Some ink spotting and cover wear, overall good condition. Unusual work. $175.00

75. Little, Stephen; Eichman, Shawn. Taoism and the Arts of China. The Art Institute of Chicago, (2000). Fine Folio Soft Cover. SOLD

BEAUTIFUL SECTIONAL MAP OF ALL JAPAN

76. [MAP - JAPAN] SEKISUI Chô & SUZUKI Kien. [ZOTEI DAI NIHON KOKUGUN YOCHI ROTEI ZENZU]. Edo, Osaka & Kyoto. Zodiacal date of Kaei 5 [1852]. Identical to the copy illustrated online from the UC Berekeley collection, save that their copy is a standard one-piece folding map in covers. See:
http://www.lunacommons.org/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~9~1~24291~110045:Zotei-Dai-Nihon-kokugun-yochi-rotei
Ours is the same size when assembled (some 102 x 183 cm) but is bound in 12 separate folding sections, each identified on the cover by area, each approximately 35 x 46 cm. This would seem to have been done by the publisher for ease of use, a series of "pocket maps". They are all enclosed in a small clasped chitsu case, some 12 x 8 x 3 cm in size, with a mica-paper liner and a cloth exterior. There is a smaller size version (?), some 72 x 40, at 1852.1 in the first volume of Beans, referenced from Ramming, 1934, at #28 - obviously a misprint of some kind, as it would be hard to understand a smaller size recut map existing. In any case, a very interesting format and a lovely, detailed map in a "modern" style, employing degrees of latitude but printed in traditional color woodblock. Very good condition, impression and colors. An excellent example of Japanese cartography in transition. $2,400.00

JAPANISM

77. (Markino Yoshio, artist). THE DARLING OF THE GODS. 1903. 16.2 x 22.7 cm, pictorial paper-covered boards, bound accordion style. This keepsake, illustrated by the famous expatriate Japanese artist "Mr. Yoshimo [sic] Markino", is dated "Monday, December 28th, 1903, and every evening at 8:15". Other copies we have seen of this souvenir were issued in commemoration of the 100th performance of this play, which had been written by David Belasco and John Luther Long. This appears to be a different, earlier issue of the work, commemorating the opening of the play in 1903.
As a piece of Japonaiserie, it is remarkable. Done in colour lithography with some hand coloring, there are 7 double page images, each 32 x 22.5 cm when opened out. The colour printers, J.Miles and Co., Colour Printers; London, as indicated by a stamp on the back cover, in their effort to duplicate the effect of a Japanese crepe paper book (itself, ironically, a Japanese reaction to Japanese-influenced Western art), have imitated a crepe texture pattern (with blind-stamping?) in the paper surface!
This piece is truly a product of its age, a tour de force of turn of the century cultural interaction between Japan and the West. The covers of this copy are quite worn and soiled and the hinges of the folding album are less than perfect, but the book is in very good condition internally and the images are very striking. An interesting and ephemeral item. SOLD

78. MARKINO, Yoshio, illustrator. "OLD ENGLISH NURSERY RHYMES JAPANNED BY YOSHIO MARKINO" RAG BOOK (NO. 188). [London: Dean's Rag Book Co. Ltd, ca. 1916]. 14 pp. including covers. 8vo., sewn cloth, colors faded especially front cover title and rear cover rhyme. Cloth clean, stitching tight, intact. Shows East/West influence. SOLD

CLASSIC OF MATHEMATICAL PEDAGOGY

79. [MATHEMATICS] Murai Chûzen. Shûgyoku SANPÔ DÔJIMON 5 vols. [CHILDREN'S QUESTIONS ON MATHEMATICS ANSWERED] Kyoto, Tennôjiya Ichirobei, Temmei 4 [1784]. 22.9 x 15.9 cm. Uniformly bound, Japanese-style, fukuro-toji with original printed covers and printed paper title labels. The preface has a zodiacal date of 1781. Important and unusual classic of mathematical pedagogy in Japan, heavily illustrated in b+w woodcut. There appears to be but 2 copies outside Japan and both are in the Library of Congress. The KSSM (volume three, p.854) Union catalog from Japan identifies this as being a 6 volume work, but two things militate against that: The LOC copies are both 5 volumes in 6 bindings (ours is 5 volumes in 5) and our copy has the original Tennôjiya bookseller catalogue bound into the back of the book, which clearly states this book is published in 5 volumes. In addition the text is continuous from volume to volume five and ends there. It would seem the KSSM is referencing sets bound 5 volumes in 6 (our volume five is about twice as long as the other four volumes). The covers are contemporary to the 1780's, the impressions good or better, the condition very good throughout. An important book. In a fitted chitsu clasped case. $12,500.00

80. MILNE HENDERSON Fine Art. SCOOPING THE CLOUDS: SEVEN CENTURIES OF INK PAINTING. London: Milne Henderson Fine Art, 2001. A color-illustrated exhibition catalogue of 56, mostly Japanese, ink paintings. Foreword by Sondra Milne Henderson. Introduction by Joe Earle. Unpaginated. A nearly square quarto, 29 x 25 cm, in color illustrated wrappers. Fine. SOLD

81. MINAKAWA Taizo, artist. MOSAICS OF KYOTO IN WOOD-BLOCK PRINTS HANGA KYOTO HYAKKEI. Kyoto, Heiandô, Shôwa 38 [1963]. Oblong 8vo., cloth, in a publisher's slipcase. With a bi-lingual text and 25 small color woodcut printed views of representative scenes of Kyoto. The original glassine cover is a bit torn and rumpled, else fine in a fine slipcase. SOLD

82. MITFORD, A. B. TALES OF OLD JAPAN. Tokio: JiuJiya & Company, 1883. First edition thus; originally published in London in 1871. 30 pp. + colophon in Japanese. 12mo., dark reddish-brown cloth stamped in gilt and blind. Cloth worn, spine chipped, cover sunned. Front and rear endpapers have red ink ownership and inscription, and the front flyleaf has two red chop mark stamps. The following recto has a red tinted small illustration; of the four plates, one other plate has red tinting, the rest, including the frontispiece, are in black and white, and one of these has red ink notes. Light soil to text in margins. Includes the Forty-Seven Ronins only. About good. $85.00

83. MORRIS, Ivan. THE TALE OF GENJI SCROLL. (Tokyo:) Kodansha, (1971). A limited edition full-color facsimile of the extant 12th-century picture scrolls of Murasaki Shikibu's novel The Tale of Genji in the museums of the Tokugawa and Gotô families, with a scholarly appreciation by Ivan Morris. The introduction (translated by Morris) is by Yoshinobu Tokugawa, the owner of three of the four surviving scrolls. The calligraphy and paintings are reproduced on 63 tipped-in full-color plates and 2 black and white plates (both of fragments either lost or destroyed). 154,(10) pp. Oblong folio, 30.5 x 58.4 cm, handsomely bound in purple and greyish green cloth covered boards tied with woven ribbon. Housed in a clamshell box covered with cloth dyed a bright safflower red (a color worn only by the highest-ranking Heian nobiility), with gilt lettering on the upper board, and lined with gold-flecked paper. This copy is number 183 from an edition limited to 1500 copies. A fine copy - as new. SOLD

84. MUNAKATA Shikô, artist. MUNAKATA SHIKÔ HANGA-SHÛ. Tokyo, Hosokawa Shoten, Shôwa 22 [1947]. Bound Western-style in wrappers, 28.3 x 21.3 cm. Missing the outer wrappers and slipcase, else complete. About very good overall. A collection of machine-printed woodblock prints after designs by Munakata Shikô, with critical essays by Yanagi Sô-etsu, Umehara Ryûzaburo and Munakata himself. Important work on an important printmaker. SOLD

85. NAGASHIMA TATSUGORÔ [YOSHITORA]. TRIPTYCH CA. 1875. Creped paper, three panels; each panel 10 1/2 x 7 inches. Rich color, unfaded. SOLD

86. Natsume SÔSEKI. KUSAMAKURA (Beneath the Stars) and BUNCHÔ. Tokyo, Iwanami Shoten, 1927. 1st printing. Translation by Sasaki Umeji. The short story BUNCHÔ follows KUSAMAKURA. 276,33 pp. Illustrated with 8 color woodcuts designed by the important graphic artist Hirafuku Hyakusui. 12mo. Decorated silk cloth over boards. Contemporary ink ownership on ffep. Sôseki is, of course, one of the most important literary figures of modern Japan. His own written works and his contributions as a professor of English literature helped to form the taste of his own educated contemporaries and those that followed. It is no accident that his face adorned the 500 yen note in postwar Japan. In any event, this is an important early translation, well illustrated and in excellent condition, with the very scarce original printed dustwrapper. $225.00

87. ONCHI Kôshiro, author. KUSA MUSHI TABI. Tokyo, Ryûseikaku, Shôwa 18 [1943] Small 12mo., bound Western-style, stiff wrappers. Publisher's slipcase. Near fine in original glassine. With textual illustrations by Onchi throughout, this is a journal of his "random thoughts" while travelling and thinking about nature, life, art and what it means to be an artist and author. An interesting work of this vitally important figure of 20th Century Japan. A record that deserves to be translated into English, if any does. A lovely copy of this book. $285.00

88. ÔTA Saburô, author and artist. KUSABANA E-MONOGATARI. Tokyo, Hakubunkan, Meiji 44 [1911]. 8vo., bound western-style in a decorated slipcase. All edges gilt. A lovely little book by this important Japanese artist, illustrator of ASA GIRI. Here he has written the text and added many illustrations in a variety of styles and printing techniques. Am interesting example of a deluxe book of the period. Though it has suffered no damage save by time itself, the acid paper has browned and foxed pretty badly. A very unsual work. SOLD

89. [PAPER SAMPLES]. ALBUM OF 36 JAPANESE PAPER SAMPLES. Cord-bound, Japanese -style, fukuro-toji. Album, 31.3 x 21.3 cm, with 36 designs on 18 pages. Stencil-printed "komon" designs. Seems to have been collected in Kansei 6 [1859], the date on the preliminaries. A few samples have been torn out and pasted over by new replacement designs. The covers, with their brushed paper title label, of patterned paper, appear somewhat older than the Ansei date. Interesting, bold, and skillfully printed small repeating pattern designs. Overall the condition is about good. $600.00

90. [PAPER SAMPLES]. TÔSEI SHINKOMON HONCHÔ. String-bound, Japanese -style, fukuro-toji. 28 X 21 cm, with 138 designs on 23 pages (6 per page). Stencil-printed "komon" designs. The blindstamped patterned covers are lovely and subtle. Interesting, skillfully printed tiny repeating pattern designs of white dots on black. Overall the condition is about good. $950.00

91. [Paper-cuts, Chinese]. ZHONG-GUO MIN-JIAN JIAN-ZHI [CHINESE FOLK ART PAPER CUTS], n.p., n.d., circa 1970s. There is a folded book catalogue from Ting Wen Book Company of Taipei dated 1980 enclosed, but that may have nothing to do with this portfolio's publication. In any event there are sixteen paper-cuts mounted singly on paper sheets. The sheets are enclosed in a 23.6 x 17.7 cm clasped brocade-covered box with a printed silk title label in Chinese, as above. The case and (especially) the paper-cuts are crisp and bright. Near fine. Beautiful examples of this craft with 2 extra papercuts loosely enclosed.  $145.00

92. [PAPERMAKING] Inogami Kabushiki Kaisha. Masaki UNRYÛSHI. Oblong, ribbon-bound collection of paper samples from the Inogami Paper company on Shikoku Island. Unryushi [Cloud Dragon Paper] is a wonderful tissue of varying thicknesses creating patterns, as well as pierced patterns. Approximately 100 samples are in this book, issued most probably in the later 1950's or 1960's. The printed cover is creased but the papers are clean and remarkable. $350.00

SERIZAWA PRIVATE PRINTING

93. [PAPERMAKING] SERIZAWA Keisuke. KAMI WO TSUKURU HITOTACHI. Privately printed by Serizawa in Shôwa 25 [1950] in an edition of 50 copies. 30 x 28 cm. 7 pages, katazome prints in wrappers with a printed paper title label. Enclosed in a hand printed folding cover which is a work of art in itself. Obviously a very scarce production, this copy has been scrupulously restored. Overall condtion is now very good. $1,850.00

FOLDING MAP OF CANTON

94. [PERIODICALS - CHINA] THE CHINESE REPOSITORY VOLUME II NOS. 4, 5, 6 (AUGUST - OCTOBER 1833). [N.P., N.P.] 1833. pp. [145] - 286. 8vo., binding missing, three issues bound together, pp. 283-284 chipped at top corner, pp. 285-286 detached, chipped at top edge with slight loss, split diagonnally across page. Inkstamp and ink sugnature ownership to front flyleaf. Light occasional foxing to texct and folding map of Canton (facing p. 160). A few text pages have closed tears in the margins. Map (City and suburbs of Canton) has a small hole with minimal loss; numbered figures in map have corresponding key in facing text pages. As is. SOLD

95. [PHOTOGRAPHY - JAPANESE] MATSUGI Fujio. JINBUTSU SHASHIN NO NERAIKATA UTSUSHIKATA. Tokyo, Shôwa 12 [1937], Genkôsha. Square 8vo. 255 + pp. Profusely illustrated with wonderful examples of photos of the human figure and portrait photography, this work by the significant artist Matsugi [1903-1984] was the third volume in Genkôsha's important SHASHIN JITSUGI DAIKÔZA series. As an added touch, Kôshiro Onchi designed the binding and slipcase. Near fine in a faded publisher's slipcase. SOLD

96. [PHOTOGRAPHY - JAPANESE] MUDA Tomohiro. IN PRAISE OF JAPANESE BEAUTY: Japanese Aesthetics Through the Lens of Tomohiro Muda. (Tokyo): Coherence, (2006). First edition. Illustrated throughout with Muda's color photographs of Japanese cultural treasures, venerable examples of art and architecture. 136 pp. including illustrations, + errata slip laid-in. The text by Tomoko Takahashi is preceded by an introduction by Mitsumasa Aoyama, the owner of Yufuku Gallery, and a prologue by Tomohiro Muda. Translated by Wahei Aoyama. Folio, 36 x 26 cm, bound in paper-covered boards with an antique gold finish and gilt-stamped title to spine and upper board, in a color-illustrated dust jacket. A fine copy but for slight bumping to boards at top fore-corner. $325.00

97. [PHOTOGRAPHY] DÔMON Ken. MURÔJI. Tokyo: Bijutsu Shuppansha, 1954. 35 x 26 cm. Bound Western-style in wrappers with dustwrapper. Text in Japanese by Kitagawa Momô. Wonderful black and white photo plates of the Muroji temple. Dômon Ken was one of the greats of 20th century Japanese photography. In the early postwar period he concentrated on photographing temples, etc., perhaps because of his prewar work on such glossy propaganda magazines as FRONT. With the original publisher's slipcase. The slipcase is breaking, the book itself is near fine inside and out. $185.00

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S IMPERIAL HOTEL

99. [PREWAR ARCHITECTURE] Kyôyôsha, publisher. Kenchiku Shashin Ruishû RISÔ NO DAIDOKORO. Tokyo: Taishô 14 [1925]. Fifth printing (First printing was 1922). Small portfolio, 19.3 x 13.2 cm, ribbon ties. Fifty plates of photos and floor plans of "practical kitchens" in the modern style. A very good and complete copy: $135.00

100. [PREWAR ARCHITECTURE] Kyôyôsha, publisher. Kenchiku Shashin Ruishû KATSUDÔ SHASHINKAN. Tokyo: Taishô 13 [1924]. Small tied portfolio, about 12mo in size. Table of contents and 49 photo plates, complete as issued. Explores the so-called "barracks architecture" that arose in the ruins of Tokyo after the Great Earthquake - here demonstrating the style as it was employed in motion picture theatres. Very interesting review of an ephemeral architectural form which lost popularity as the reconstruction matured and then vanished when Tokyo burned again in the war. Barracks architecture was considered an interesting intersection of necessity and the avant-garde. Little contemporary data exists on it. Very scarce portfolio in very good condition throughout. $385.00

101. RAVICZ, ROBERT AND DAWSON, MUIR. DEAR CHARLIE/A Collection of Letters and Essays for Charles H. Mitchell. Los Angeles: NP, 1985. 4to., stapled wrappers, photographic frontis. A collection of tributes by scholars, dealers and collectors in the field of the Japanese illustrated book to the distinquished collector and bibliographer Charlie Mitchell. Fine conditon. $75.00

102. SERISAWA Keisuke, artist. KATAZOME SHÔHINSHÛ 1,2. Osaka, Moriguchi Tarô, 1954, Shôwa 30 [1955]. 27 x 22.7. Mounted katazome stencil prints by their most famous 20th century practitioner. Volume one was printed in an edition of 100 copies, volume two in 200 copies. Both are orihon folding albums in stiff covers. The books themselves are very good (though the covers of volume two are detached) the original slipcases are very rough and partially missing. This "shôhinshû" collection of small works (exlibris, matchbook covers and the like) eventually ran to 4 volumes. SOLD

HELIOTYPES OF ENGRAVINGS

103. SIMPSON, William. MEETING THE SUN: A JOURNEY ALL ROUND THE WORLD, THROUGH EGYPT, CHINA, JAPAN, AND CALIFORNIA, INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE MARRIAGE CEREMONIES OF THE EMPEROR OF CHINA. Two parts (separate title pages) bound in one volume. xii + 413 pp. + b/w plates and heliotype plates. 8vo., half red morocco, gilt rules, raised bands and gilt spine decoration and lettering, red marbled paper covered boards. Moderate wear to the corners, the spine is torn, the joints tender. Matching marbled endpapers, personal printed bookplate on front pastedown. Faint occasional soil in margins of text. Very good overall. The dominant subject of the text is China and the photos are  reproduced from the Illustrated London News. $295.00

SCARCE SKETCHTOUR VOLUME

104. [SKETCHTOUR BOOK] HASHIMOTO Kunisuke. PARI E-NIKKI. Tokyo: Hakubunkan, Meiji 45 [1912]. 8vo., printed paper-covered boards, bound Western-style. 6, [ills.] 162pp. + colophon + ads. Hashimoto (1884-1953), a member of the White Horse Society, here expands the limits of the Sketchtour genre by taking his brush to Paris and London in the years 1909-10. There are some 11 color lithographs, 40 b+w lithographs and 12 halftones. The text is that of Hashimoto's travel diary. [See Johnson's ANDON article for more on this work.] Our copy is quite clean externally, with a bit of starting internally. An unusual example of the genre in any condition this is a nice copy of this fragile book. $525.00

105. (TATTOOS). THE JAPANESE TATTOO. Text by Donald Richie, photos by Ian Buruma. New York & Tokyo: Weatherhill, (1980). First edition thus. 4to, 116 pp., with 62 photographs in color and b&w. Cloth-backed cream paper boards. Fine, in the dust jacket. $65.00

106. [TEXTILE SAMPLES]. SHIMA SHIMA. 29.8 X 24.5 cm, tassel-bounde cloth over board covers with a printed title label on the cloth. There are 8 pages of fabric samples, mounted 5 per page, hence 40 samples in all. Men's kimono fabric with striped patterns, somber and dark. Mid-20th Century? Good condition throughout. $95.00

KUNISADA ON GENJI

107. TOYOKUNI III [KUNISADA]. SONO SUGATA HIKARU NO UTSUSHI-E. [FAITHFUL IMAGES, DRAWN OF THE SHINING PRINCE] Folding album of horizontal oban prints folded down the middle. Publisher: Izumiya Ichibei of Edo [1852] Includes chapters 28-54 of the Tale of Genji, each with an image. Bound up as an orihon folding album in good condition. The impressions are fair, the colors of the 1850s are bold. $675.00

108. UNGER, Mary E. THE FAVORITE FLOWERS OF JAPAN. Tokyo: T.Hasegawa, Meiji 44 [1911]. The third printing of the second English version of this catalogue. 24.5 x 18.2 cm., viii + 61pp. Printed paper over boards. Profusely illustrated catalogue of flowers, with an advertisement in back by L. Boehmer & Co., of Yokohama, an important exporter of flowers and bulbs. FAVORITE FLOWERS is not creped, but it is beautifully illustrated in color woodcut throughout and represents one of Hasegawa's loveliest creations. This copy is clean inside and out, well-colored and printed, about fine overall. $575.00

HUNDREDS OF COLOR WOODBLOCK PRINTS

109. [UNSÔDÔ] Sakai HÔ-ITSU, Suzuki KI-ITSU & Nakano KI-MEI. SHIKI NO HANA. Kyoto, Meiji 41 [1908] 10 volumes [18.8 X 27.9 cm], complete, bound orihon style in stiff paper covers with printed paper title labels. There are 2 spring, 4 summer, 3 autumn and 1 winter volumes, with a grand total of 237 (232 of which are double page images, approx. 24 X 32 cm, within printed borders) color woodblock prints of Japanese flowers. Identified in the introduction to each season, there is no printed text to mar the lovely color plates. After designs by eminent 19th century Rimpa artists, printed by Unsôdô while at the height of their considerable powers. This is a complete set in a clasped chitsu with printed set title label. Good impressions and colors of a set which is almost never found complete nowadays. A very nice example. SOLD

110. Utagawa KUNIMORI II, artist. TÔKAIDÔ GOJÛSAN TSUGI. 54 [of 55?] images in color woodblock, each print approximately 8.1 X 11.7 cm, mounted in a [postwar?] brocade covered orihon folding album. Kunimori was active between 1848 and 1860. An interesting little artifact, another rendition of the famous Tôkaidô, here rendered in a pocket-sized format that might well have been carried along on the road. All enclosed in a nice navy blue clasped chitsu case with an appropriate woodblock printed paper lining depicting folks on the road. Terrific presentation of these somewhat worn original prints from the 1850's. From the collection of Charles Nelson Spinks, many of whose ehon and albums now belong to American University in Washington, D.C.. $350.00

111. WEBSTER, Augusta. YU-PE-YA'S LUTE: A CHINESE TALE, IN ENGLISH VERSE. London: Macmillan and Co., 1874. First edition. [2] + 64 pp. + 1 pp. publisher's advertisement. 12mo., purple cloth sunned to light brown at spine and edges of boards, spine stamped in gilt, boards stamped in blind. Moderate wear to spine at heel and crown. Small bookseller's label to front flyleaf. Ink ownership dated 1883 to title page. Text clean, light foxing to inside of endpapers only. Adapted from a story in Choix de Contes et Nouvelles traduits du Chinois par Théodore Pavie (Paris, Librairie de B. Duprat, 1839).

Webster (1837-1894) was well known during her lifetime as a poet and advocate of women's right to vote; she was the first female writer to hold elective office, for the London School Board in 1879 and 1885. She also worked for the London branch of the National Committee for Women's Suffrage. $350.00

112. [WHALING]. A CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE MANUSCRIPT OF THE "LAWRENCE" SHIPWRECK SURVIVORS. On May 27, 1846, the whaler "Lawrence" of Poughkeepsie, New York, wrecked and broke apart off the island of Etorofu, located in the Pacific Ocean north of Hokkaidô. Only George Howe, the second mate, and six ordinary seaman survived. They were found by indigenous Ainu fisherman and then seized by local representatives of the Japanese feudal domain, because Japan was still in a state of self-imposed isolation and off limits to outsiders at that time. They were interrogated, first at Etorofu, then sent to Nagasaki and held incommunicado for seventeen months. Six of the men eventually obtained their freedom with the assistance of the Dutch envoy at Nagasaki, Joseph Henrij Levyssohn. (The seventh seaman had died earlier following an attempted escape.) The experience of the "Lawrence" seamen was specifically cited by Commodore Matthew C. Perry in the treaty concluded with Japan in 1854 in the provision stipulating humane treatment for shipwrecked Americans. It was a "cause celebre" at the time and has been cited in several standard references on early American/Japanese relations.

[35] pp., + one folding painting. A title sheet followed by a folding painting of the "Lawrence" and thirty-three pages of illustrations drawn in a naive style, often brightly colored, that show equipment and clothing and the seven captured seamen, with captions. Bound Japanese-style (with flexible brown paper covers and tied with string) with a calligraphed paper label. 29.5 x 18.5 cm. It is housed in a modern green cloth-covered chitsu case with bone clasps and a paper label.

For other examples of the record of this event, please refer to the June 1968 issue of "American Heritage" magazine for Robert Gallagher's "Castaways on Forbidden Shores" - based on a group of illustrations found in a Tokyo print shop by Carl Boehringer in the early postwar period. In addition, there is a copy of the Japanese feudal government record of the Lawrence interrogation, complete with some illustrations in the Doshisha University library. http://elib.doshisha.ac.jp/denshika/kaihyo/32/imgidx32.html.

Our copy differs from the two other cited above in having a suite of illustrations of tools, articles of clothing, etc. that the sailors had in their possession. The images of the sailors differ in pictorial details and some of the captions claim different ages, etc., for the sailors. In any event a remarkable and rare document of an important interaction between Japan and the US, which led directly to the Perry Expedition. Also, interesting for the fact that a full-blown diplomatic controversy exists today between Japan and Russia which revolves around Etorofu and the Kuriles, in general. Both countries claim historical control of Etorofu - here it seems clear that the Japanese were in charge in the mid-19th century. A unique document. SOLD

113. YAMAGUCHI Hachikushi, artist. MIKIDÔ RAKUYÔSHÛ. Kyoto, Hachikushi Hanga Hanpukai, Shôwa 9 [1934]. Hachikushi [1880-1934], an important and versatile artist of the time - painting with traditional materials as well as oils, here addresses the Haiga/Nanga traditional genre with enormous vitality. This tied portfolio (30.5 x 24 cm) with printed paper title label contains 47 [of a total of 57 prints] reproduced in color woodcut, after watercolors by Hachikushi. The portfolio is falling apart but the prints are quite clean in good impressions. SOLD