Figure-Prints of Japan.
Barnett, P. Neville

Folio. 53pp. One of forty deluxe copies, signed by the author. A lovely production, illustrated with thirty-six color plates. The plates are genuine prints: beautifully made modern reproductions of the originals, done in Japan. The text traces the rise and fall of the Ukiyo-ye school of Japanese wood-engraving, from its origins with the artist Moronobu in the seventeenth century, to its decline under Western influences in the nineteenth century. Ukiyo-ye is translated as "pictures of the floating world," and prints of this genre depict the carefree pleasures of life: a world of entertainment and beauty, beyond mundane, everyday concerns. Ukiyo-ye challenged the traditional aristocratic and courtly schools of painting, and the plates depict people of the lower classes, including actors and courtesans, the finely-dressed beauties of the city, and tea-house waitresses. Artists of this school featured in Barnett's work include Utamaro, Shunsho, Harunobu, and Kiyonaga. Sumptuously bound in silk brocade, backed in gilt-ruled vellum. The endpapers bear prints of a woman carrying an umbrella, surrounded by borders of red maple leaves. A few very faint spots of offsetting from the plates, else a very fine copy. With the armorial bookplate of Bernard Gore Brett and a small, unobtrusive bookseller's label to front pastedown. An enchanting introduction to the art form.

[Miniature] English-Chinese Dictionary. Lilliput Series.
Anonymous

992pp. A miniature English-Chinese dictionary, with the Chinese definitions given in Chinese characters. Some light wear and a stamp reading "China" to front cover, else fine in textured, printed brown wrappers. Orange edges. (2 3/4 by 1 9/16; 70x41mm).

Chinoiseries / Costumes d'Antan.
Anonymous

Octavo. (22)pp. Album of Chinese landscapes in original watercolors, facing depictions of women's antique costumes painted on silk, interleaved with tissue. "Chinoiserie" refers to European art characterized by imagery of a romanticized China, and it appears that the brightly-colored landscapes in this album were done later than the silk paintings, most likely by a Western artist. Included are market scenes, depictions of boats on a river, and pagodas. The delicate paintings of costumes on silk are done in a much more traditional Chinese style. Great attention is paid to details, such as the knotted red and green silk cords worn around the women's waists, floral hair ornaments, and the subtle patterns of their loose-sleeved robes. One woman carries a basket of flowers, another poses beside a deer, and one is dressed as a warrior with a sword, in a jacket and loose trousers, tying on her knee guards. The costumes are colored in soft shades of blue, pink, and green. Very fine in soft gilt-titled white calf with raised bands on the spine, blind-tooled with decorative rules. Housed in a flannel-lined box.

Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation.
Hearn, Lafcadio

Octavo. First edition. Hearn's work introduced the West to Meiji-era Japanese culture and contributed to the mania of Orientalism that began sweeping through Europe in the late nineteenth century. This book was published shortly after Hearn's death in September 1904. In brown cloth with gilt lettering and a Japanese device. A brilliant copy of a book rarely seen in this condition. (BAL 7941).

Anno's Counting Book.
Anno, Mitsumasa

Small square quarto. (14)ff. First edition, inscribed by Anno. Illustrated throughout with Anno's delicate watercolors, this engaging counting book shows how numbers and mathematics are part of the everyday world around us. A former teacher who has become one of Japan's leading illustrators, Anno believes that all children are mathematicians from birth, in the ways that they observe, compare things, and make sense of their environment. Original dust wrapper has a very small tear, else very fine in illustrated boards.

The Various Birds: Fifty-six Varieties. The Color of the Bird, Shape of the Body.
Anonymous

Small quarto. (27)ff. A handmade book of delicate Japanese brush paintings of common birds, ranging from sparrows and songbirds to ducks and other fowl. The paintings are executed in a style similar to sumi-e. They are predominantly monochromatic with subtle gradations of black ink, accented with washes of brown, yellow, and red. The illustrations stand alone on most of the pages, but a few, including one of a majestic pheasant, are accompanied by descriptions in Japanese. Each page is comprised of a double sheet measuring 10 3/16 by 14 1/4 inches, and most of the paintings stretch across the page spread. The only clue to the painter's identity is a note in Japanese on the front wrapper, which explains that the illustrations were "painted by the next-door neighbor -- during the weekdays." The note also indicates that the book was owned by Goshodo, a bookseller. It seems likely that the paintings were given as a neighborly gift and made into a book. Some light wear and soiling to covers, faint soiling to a few pages, else a very fine collection of paintings.

Seiho Junishi Jo (An Album of the Twelve Zodiacal Signs by Seiho).
Seiho, Takeuchi

Small folio. Folding album consisting of twelve ink wash and color prints on thirteen sheets, each bearing Seiho's chop mark. One of the key figures of modern Japanese painting, Seiho (1864 - 1942) absorbed elements of European-style painting -- Impressionism, in particular -- and successfully fused them into traditional Japanese styles, especially those of the Maruyama-Shijo School. The present work, which is considered a masterpiece of Shijo artistry, clearly demonstrates this harmony between styles. Seiho was awarded the first Order of Cultural Merit in 1937. Two small holes on the front blank, else a bright, clean copy in original paper-covered boards, which show light edgewear and abrasions to front cover. Housed in a rough cloth folding case with bone clasps.

Poems by Li Po.
Po, Li

Two quarto volumes. 72; 17pp. One of 150 copies. Designed and printed by Carolyn Hammer with the assistance of W. Gay Reading and Paul Holbrook in red and black Hammer Uncial on Iyo Glazed paper. Bound by Hammer, Reading, and Susan Coates in black cloth with printed label. Li Po's seal appears on the title page, having been reproduced from a seal impression in "Mr. Ho's History of Seals" from 1623. The second volume was printed by Byron-Page Printing Co. and bound in gray Mingei paper. It contains the translator's notes and a phonographic recording of T'ang Dynasty music on authentic period instruments. Both volumes are housed in a black cloth chemise with black ties. Fine copy with only light discoloration to edges of chemise. Extra paper spine label laid in to first volume.

[Miniature] China Daily News.
Anonymous

(4)ff. A photo-reduced reproduction of the China Daily News newspaper, printed in green. The news is accompanied by photographs and advertisements. Unobtrusive repaired tear to rear page, else fine. (2 1/8 by 1 5/8; 54x40mm).

15 Kyoto Gardens.
Kaldewey, Gunnar

Quarto. 28pp., frenchfold. One of forty copies. Signed by the author/artist, Gunnar Kaldewey. This book is inspired by the notion of "nature as art." The first text page poetically states: "Books are like gardens that one can carry/around; gardens are like books that one can/experience, promenade through or get lost..." The artist has captured the finest details of nature in his prints of lime and silver, with borders in black. Text printed in orange on transparent, smaller octavo-sized sheets, which appear intermittently throughout the illustrations. Bound in green Japanese paper over boards, with two little garden stones on the cover surrounded by gold leaf and a clear plastic frame. Housed in a paper chemise and matching slipcase. Small stain to bottom edge of slipcase, else extremely fine.

Pachinko. A Nine Minute Dream.
Kaldewey, Gunnar

Large quarto. 6ff., accordionfold. One of thirty-eight copies on handmade paper. Signed by the publisher, Gunnar Kaldewey. This was the first book of the Kaldewey Press to utilize the technology of the computer, Photoshop, and an Epson printer, in creating the color illustrations. With an accompanying audio CD of the background noise of a Pachinko arcade. Mint in chemise and slipcase.

[Miniature] Japanese Buddhist Sutra.
Anonymous

(20)ff. Text in kanji, a Japanese writing system derived from Chinese characters, illustrated with seven small black & white woodcuts of various aspects of the Buddha, all seated on lotuses, and one seated warrior. Probably a souvenir from a Buddhist temple. A slim, finger-shaped book in stiff orange wrappers with printed label. Light wear to extremities, else fine. (3 by 1; 75x25mm).

Faulkner at Nagano.
Faulkner, William

Small octavo. First edition. A series of interviews, conversations at seminars, and speeches, including Faulkner's Nobel Prize speech, edited by Robert A. Jelliffe, Fulbright Lecturer in Kobe College. Spine lightly toned, else fine in gray cloth boards with white cloth spine. Dust wrapper has one corner clipped and shows toning, wear, and a half-inch marginal closed tear.