JAPAN
Wonderful
Japonica-style Book on Japanese Woodcuts
Hájek, Lubor; & Werner Forman. Japanese woodcuts; early
periods. London: Spring Books, n.d. (c.1950). 4to. Frontis., 96, [2], 50 pp., illus.
$65.00
• 96 pages of text with 25 b/w illustrations, plus 50 pages of color plates. At head of title: “Hájek-Forman. Translated by Ilse Gottheiner.” Includes bibliographical references on (p. 93–94).
• Cloth slipcase with Japanese lettering on front cover and lovely illustration inside, held closed by two bone fasteners through silk loops. Book is in wrappers; Japanese-style string-held binding. A nice copy with slipcase (only) exhibiting slightest soiling.
(23115)
“Novel Incidents & Personal Adventures”
Hook, Robert; & George D. Hook. Through dust and foam: Or travels, sight-seeing, and adventure by land and sea in the far west and far east. Hartford, CT: Columbian Book Co., 1876. 8vo (22.8 cm, 9"). 456, [2 (adv.)] pp.; 16 plts.
$250.00
Click the images for enlargements.
• First edition, illustrated with “over 200 original engravings” of this voyage around the world. The Hook brothers, recent college graduates with time on their hands and energy to spare, recount their U.S. and world travels in an insouciant tone and lightly (or possibly not so lightly) embellished manner, providing highly entertaining anecdotes of their passage through Colorado, Utah, California, China, Japan, India, and parts of Europe. Their visit to Salt Lake City produces some strongly worded sentiments regarding the Church of Latter Day Saints: the sermon they attend is populated by “ignorant-looking masses,” with discourse consisting of “weak trash poured out by one of the elders,” and the Mormon bible is in the authors' assessment “nonsensical trash . . . clumsily thrown together” (pp. 71/72).
• Flake, Mormons, 4079; not in Hill, Pacific Voyages; not in Smith, American Travellers Abroad. Publisher's deeply incised (“carved”) green cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped pictorial vignette, spine with gilt-stamped title, back cover with blind-stamped vignette; corners and spine extremities a bit rubbed, spine slightly sunned. All edges gilt. Pages and plates clean. (24380)
Unger, Mary E. The favorite flowers of Japan. Tokyo: Hasegawa, [1911]. 8vo (24.5 cm; 9.5"). [4] ff., 59, [4] pp.
$400.00
• Second edition of this uncommon and beautiful work featuring 29 color wood block floral prints and a color map, hand-printed on hand-made papers. Text is in English. Illustrations are in color and are of chrysanthemums, persimmons, plum, peach, orchids, azaleas, peonies, camellia, morning-glories, cherry, magnolia, iris, hydrangea, lilies, lotus, conifers, bamboo, palms, wistaria, and considerably more.
A wonderful example of early 20th-century Japanese book printing.
• Publisher’s paper over light boards; paper of spine flaked off with covers dusty and little discolored. A delicate book, priced according to its faults and still a nice object.
Delicate & Delightful