Japan
JAPANESE GRAPHIC DESIGN. Collection of Japanese matchbox labels.Tokyo : 1920-34
A vibrant collection, containing pre-war matchbox labels produced by the Rinshikin Shukai, Japan's first society for matchbox collectors. The boldly coloured designs show kabuki actors, geisha, Buddhist deities, baseball players, famous ukiyo-e prints, vistas of capital cities, and even wartime propaganda.
Matchbox labels became popular in...Learn More
YOSHIDA, Hiroshi - FLEISHER, Benjamin W. (ed.). Enthronement of the One Hundred Twenty-Fourth Emperor of Japan.Tokyo : 1928
First edition, published to commemorate the coronation of Emperor Hirohito. It contains a vivid original colour woodblock print of Himeji Castle by Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950), an internationally renowned artist and one of the leading figures of the shin-hanga movement. The text explains the historical and religious meaning behind the various...Learn More
HOFFMAN, Johann Joseph. Shopping Dialogues, in Japanese, Dutch, and English. = Winkelgesprekken in het Hollandsch, Engelsch en Japansch.London : 1861
First edition, compiled by one of von Siebold's proteges. Hoffman commissioned a new set of Chinese character types for its production and utilized Karl Lepsius's newly developed standard for transcribing foreign orthography into the Latin alphabet.
Johann Joseph Hoffman (1805-1878) was one of the foremost academics that established the...Learn More
JAPANESE ADVERTISEMENTS. An album of early 20th century matchbox labels.[Nagoya : early 20th century]
A collection of colourful and expressive advertisements for a wide range of businesses across Japan, from sweet shops to cafes, cigarette manufacturers, restaurants, and pharmacists. The majority are for businesses in Nagoya, in particular a branch of the famous confectionary chain Fujiya, the company that introduced the Christmas cake to Japan in...Learn More
CRAIGIE, Robert. Archive of photographs, newspaper clippings, and signed books relating to his time as ambassador to Japan.Various places : 1937-45
A wide-ranging archive of Craigie's tenure compiled by his wife, Lady Pleasant Craigie. The photographs and clippings span the period from his arrival in Japan in 1937 through to his expulsion in 1941, including many with their family and famous figures, such as Princess Chichibu and Admiral Yamamoto. One of the accompanying printed works is...Learn More
CHATELAIN, Zacharias. Atlas Historique, ou Nouvelle Introduction a l'Histoire, à la Chronologie & à la Geographie Ancienne & Moderne;Amsterdam : 1714-21
A mixed-edition set, as usual, of this monumental encyclopaedia, including a well-preserved example of the large four-sheet map "Carte très curieuse de la Mer du Sud", which centres the American continent in global networks of trade and exploration stretching from China to Europe and the western coast of Africa.
Volumes of the Atlas...Learn More
MURASAKI, Lady; WALEY, Arthur (trans.). The Tale of Genji: A Novel in Six Parts.London : 1935
First combined edition. The influence of Waley's Genji extends beyond Japanology: reviewing the first instalment for Vogue, Virginia Woolf praised him for helping her recognize that "the differences between Japanese and Anglo cultures did not make the Anglo superior" (Henig, p. 76). She acknowledged this literary debt in the preface to Orlando...Learn More
OGAWA, Kazumasa. A Model Japanese Villa.Tokyo : 1907
Later edition, following the first of 1899. The brightly hand-coloured collotypes show the house and gardens of Okuma Shigenobu (1838-1922), the prime minister of Japan in 1898. Okuma was also an advocate of Westernisation and the founder of Waseda University.
The illustrations show this traditional Japanese mansion from both the outside...Learn More
WORLD WAR II IN ASIA. G.S.G.S. Short Glossaries for Use on Foreign Maps [Chinese; Japanese; Malay - Dutch Orthography; Malay - English Orthography; Thai; Romanized Annamese; Persian; Dutch.]London : 1945
A collection of official short-lists of topographical and descriptive terms to assist in the interpretation of Geographical Section, General Staff maps. The glossaries in this group include either provisional or first editions. The longest of the eight guides is that for China.Learn More
SOUTH MANCHURIA RAILWAY. Nanman chokanzu ("Bird's-Eye View of the South Manchuria Railway").[Perhaps Tokyo] : [c.1923]
A large and colourful tourist map of the mainline running from Jilin and Changchun to Lushun (Port Arthur), recording stations, branchlines, rivers, and the belt of mountains skirting the mainline's south side. The text on the verso provides essential information on major destinations along the route.
This map was issued during a period...Learn More
AXLING, William. Nasīr al-mazlumīn. Qissat haīāat Kagawa al-za'eīm al-īābānī.Bulaq, Egypt [and] Jerusalem : [c.1932]
First edition in Arabic of William Axling's "highly influential biography" (Tao) of the Japanese Evangelical Christian activist, Toyohiko Kagawa - "a sort of Presbyterian Francis of Assisi in Japan" (Old, p. 566). We have traced just four institutional copies, all in the Middle East.
After learning English from American missionaries as a...Learn More
WORLD WAR II IN EAST ASIA. Seven reports from the Joint Army-Navy Intelligence Study (JANIS) series, all concerning health and sanitation in East Asia.Washington, DC : 1944-46
Classified material from the first significant US joint-intelligence programme, each with the lead researcher's ownership signature ("Capt. H. Kuhlenbeck") at the head of the front wrapper and all but the first identified as a "contributor's advance copy" in his hand.
Established in 1943, the JANIS programme produced comprehensive reports...Learn More
YAMAMOTO, Chiei. Daitoasen-shi: Mare sakusen ("The History of the Greater East Asian War: Malayan Campaign").Tokyo & Osaka : 1942
First edition, published in the same year as the campaign, triumphantly celebrating the Japanese victory over the defending forces of the British Commonwealth. The maps and plates show the Japanese advance up the peninsula, including shots of their bicycle-mounted infantry. The illustrations on the wrappers were designed by Yokoyama Ryuichi, a...Learn More
MIZUNO, Chukyo. Somoku kin'yo-shu ("Collection of Plants and Trees with Ornamental Leaves").Edo : 1829
First edition of this study of plants with variegated leaves, considered by Jack Hillier in his Art of the Japanese Book as one of the best of its kind. Collecting these unusual cultivars was a widespread hobby in the 18th and 19th centuries. In addition, the final volume features an illustration of a perfectly balanced bonsai tree.
As...Learn More
KAWANABE, Kyosai (illus.). Kyosai gadan ("Kyosai's Treatise on Painting").Tokyo : 1887
Later printing of this study of Japanese painting and its history. The first part (naihen) is made up of Kyosai's explanation of general techniques, with evocative illustrations of mountains, human anatomy, gods, demons, cats, birds, and courtesans. The second part (gaihen) is his biography, edited by his pupil.
Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)...Learn More
BIRD & BULL PRESS: BARRETT, Timothy. Nagashizuki: The Japanese craft of hand papermaking;North Hills, Philadelphia : 1979 & 1994
First editions, numbers 58 and 124 of 300 copies each. This study of traditional Japanese papermaking details the production process, traditional tools and equipment, and the history of the industry. The samples include ganpi, minogami, and mitsumata paper, with five made by the author himself.
The Anatomy of a Literary Hoax is a small...Learn More
BIRD & BULL PRESS: MCCLURE, Floyd Alonzo. Chinese Handmade Paper.Newtown, Philadelphia : 1986
First edition, number 126 of 325 copies only. This is a tribute to the American botanist and bamboo expert Floyd McClure (1897-1970), made up of his unpublished master's thesis and 41 samples of paper from his collection. The samples hail from across China and include those used for calligraphy, charms, and even lottery tickets.
Paper has...Learn More
BIRD & BULL PRESS: MORRIS, Henry. Japonica: The study and appreciation of the art of Japanese Paper.North Hills, Philadelphia : 1981
First edition, number 225 of 250 copies only. This work contains 33 samples of chiyogami, highly colourful and decorative pieces of printed paper traditionally used for wrapping, making dolls, and origami. They date from the 1930s and came from the collection of Dard Hunter (1883-1966), the American champion of traditional papermaking techniques....Learn More
GREAT KANTO EARTHQUAKE. Saishin Tokyo-shi zenzu, fu Yokohama-shi zenzu ("Latest Map of Tokyo, also with a Map of Yokohama").Tokyo : 1923
Later edition, updated only one month after the devastating earthquake on 1 September 1923. The map shows the extent of the fire damage with orange overlays, revealing the near-total destruction of Tokyo south of the Imperial Palace. The verso highlights the carnage with photographic illustrations of Nihonbashi, Yokohama, Sudacho, and the future...Learn More
JAPAN; CLOTHING. Shozoku shokushikimoku ("A Catalogue of Courtly Attire").Tokyo : 1897
An attractive manuscript copy of this rare treatise on Heian-period ceremonial attire. Only one other copy is known, held by the National Archives of Japan. The copyist, Ishimoto Shuen, was an artist-historian whose research focused on ancient clothing. She was named as one of the most accomplished artists in Tokyo by a 1916...Learn More
