Rare books from Boston Book Company

1721. RUYSCH, Frederik. OPERA OMNIA ANATOMICO-MEDICO-CHIRURGICA. Huc usque edita. Quorum Elenchus pagina sequenti exhibetur. Cum figuris aeneis. Amstelodami, apud Janssonio-Waesbergios, 1721 [i.e. c. 1733]. 4 quarto volumes. Engraved title-page and portrait, 9 text illustrations, + 135 sheets of engraved illustrations. (The illustrations of jars and tableaux of skeletons in the Thesaurus anatomicus by Cornelius Huyberts are worthy of special note for their surreal combination of flowers, fishes, reptiles, seashells and delicate body parts.) This is a four-volume collection of separately published works by Ruysch or of works addressed to him by others; it also includes a life of Ruysch by J. F. Schreiber, a four-page table of contents (which lists only a portion of the works that comprise this set), and an index, dated 1725. The forty-four component works, in varying editions, were all printed by Jansson & Waesberge at Amsterdam from 1720-1733; each has a separate title-page and pagination. It… Read More

1906. SHIMBI SHOIN, publisher. MASTERPIECES SELECTED FROM THE UKIYOYE SCHOOL [EIBUN UKIYOE-HA GASHU]. Tokyo, Shimbi Shoin, Meiji 39-42, [1906-9]. 5 large folio volumes (19.5 x 13.5 inches), each bound in beautiful decorated silk over boards, secured with tassles, in the 5 original grass cloth clasped chitsu cases with printed silk title labels. This epitome of the Ukiyo-e school and its development, edited by Shiichi Tajima, et al., was and is a remarkable scholarly and artistic triumph of book-making and the finest production of its kind ever attempted. There are over 150 color woodcut reproductions in the set, some of which are said to have taken days to finish, since as many as 200 separate woodblocks were used to create the effects. This is the original edition of the set. Complete, including the magnificent triptych, plate number 155 [in volume 5], which was not included when the set was originally published in Japanese. The set is near fine, though the case are a bit worn (one clasp is… Read More

1784. [MATHEMATICS] Murai Chuzen. Shugyoku SANPO DOJIMON [CHILDREN'S QUESTIONS ABOUT MATHEMATICS] 5 vols. Kyoto, Tennojiya 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 appear 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 bound in 6 (ours is 5 volumes bound in 5) and our copy has the original Tennojiya 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 and ends at the end of volume 5. The covers are contemporary to the 1780's, the impressions good or better, the… Read More

1828. NEES VON ESENBECK, Theodor Friedrich Ludwig. PLANTAE OFFICINALIS oder Sammlung Officineller Pflanzen mit Lithographirten Abbildungen von A. Henry, und Beschreibungen von M.F. Weyhe, J.W. Wolter, und P.W. Funke. Fortgesetzt von Dr. Th. Fr. L. Nees v. Esenbeck. Dusseldorf, Arnz & Comp., [1821-]1828-1833. A great encyclopedia of medicinal plants, including the rare Supplement volume, is offered complete in three folio volumes: one volume of text, measuring 16 x 9.5 in., accompanied by two plate volumes with a combined total of 558 lithographed plates, measuring 18.25 x 11 in., of which 550 are hand-colored and 8 are plain. The plates by Aime Henry are both attractive and painstakingly clear and accurate. Nees von Esenbeck (1787-1837), the main author, was Inspector of the Leiden Botanic Garden and Director of the Bonn University Botanic Garden. The majority of this work was first issued from 1821-28 in 18 parts with 438 plates. A Supplement was published from 1829-33 in 5 parts with additional text… Read More

1919. [SKETCHTOUR GENRE] Otani Sonyu & Iguchi Kashu, artists. TOKAIDO GOJUSAN-TSUGI EMAKI Kyoto Taisho 11 [1922]. Eight handscrolls with woodcut coloring over collotype, complete. The scrolls have bone jiku with brocade covers and sumi over gold title labels. SCROLL ONE. Congratulatory inscriptions by Otani Kozui (then Abbot of Nishi Hoganji and Sonyu's older brother), Tomioka Tessai, dated 8th month of Taisho 8, "at the age of 88" and Zen artist Hashimoto Dokuzan, dated September 22, Taisho 8. The pictures of the stations of the old Tokaido alternate between Sonyu and Kashu. Most station names are well known, but there are alternate local names, and in some cases other place names are itemized parenthetically. Station One: Nihonbashi by Sonyu. A night scene, with department stores, pedestrians, streetcars and, prominently, a black motor car. Station Two: Shinagawa by Kashu.An early morning panorama, lights on in village houses, fishing boats still moored, a steam dredge, distant steamships. Station… Read More

1880. RARE FIRST EDITION IN A PUBLISHER'S REMAINDER BINDING GISSING, George. WORKERS IN THE DAWN. A Novel. In Three Volumes. London: Remington and Co., 1880. First Edition the three volumes bound in one, in what is a publisher's remainder binding of blue cloth with green-coated endpapers. Blindstamped to front and back and stamped in gilt to spine (mostly faded).The first edition was issued without half titles; the advertisement leaf of Vol. 1 is included in this three-in-one binding. Gissing's first novel. Of the original printing of 277..."only forty-nine sets were sold, and the 'bulk of the edition' ... was subsequently remaindered in a one- volume issue, put up in blue cloth". However, Collie records only one other such copy, but bound in black cloth. Rear hinge just starting, extremes are worn. A very good tight copy. Contained in a contemporary blue drop-back box.(Colie A.1a, Freeman 1).

16. [NARA EHON]. UTSUHO MONOGATARI. [TALES OF THE HOLLOW TREE]. 23.1 x 17.1 cm. Green brocade covers. Hand calligraphed manuscript bound Yamato-toji style, on torinoko paper. The style of the illustrations and the calligraphy date the work to the early Tokugawa period (mid-17th Century). The unfinished manuscript of this classical tale consists of 45 leaves (each double-sided), of which 37 are calligraphed in an elegant hand, with 4 single page and 1 double page richly colored paintings in a skilled Yamato-e manner. The manuscript is underpainted with flowers and grasses in gold throughout. This copy is remarkably well preserved, with but slight wear to the cloth covers. Internally, it is bright and clean. From the collection of the photographer, Roman Vishniac.

1919. Ôtani Sonyû 大谷 尊由(1886-1939) & Iguchi Kashû 井口華秋 (1880-1930), artist TOKAIDÔ GOJÛSAN-TSUGI EMAKI 東海道五十三次絵巻 Kyoto Taisho 11 [1922]. Eight handscrolls with woodcut coloring over collotype, complete.The scrolls have bone jiku with brocade covers and sumi over gold title labels. The pictures of the stations of the old Tôkaidô alternate between Sonyû and Kashû. Most station names are well known, but there are alternate local names, and in some cases other place names are itemized parenthetically. Colophon: Endnote. Date of publication Jan. 15, Taisho 11 (1922). Price: ¥500. Artists: Otani Sonyû and Iguchi Kashû. Publisher: Nakamura Taikan. Printer: Motohashi Sadajirô. Publishing House: Nihon Taikan-sha. It goes without saying that the price of 500 yen (at the time worth about US$200 in gold), a shocking amount, was reflective of the enormous costs associated with the project. That sum came to a bit less than a male factory worker's yearly wage and… Read More

1919. Onchi Kōshirō 恩地孝四郎. [Abstract Oil Painting]. Oil painting approx 41 x 32 cm in image size, an abstract(ish) still life with an apple, done while Onchi was quite young in about 1919. It is signed by him and is quite unusual in its embrace of abstraction (with a hint of the very influential Mr. Cezanne). Not for the fact of the abstract image itself, but rather for the medium. Oil paintings by Onchi are by no means common as he largely abandoned the medium by the 20s. Nor are his abstractions unknown, as he frequently created woodblock prints in an abstract mode and is, indeed, credited with the first fully abstract print in Japan [AKARUI TOKI] which appeared in his TSUKUHAE magazine number V in 1915. Nor is Cezanne's influence on the Japanese art world through his still lifes unknown, either. But this painting, combining oil and abstraction and a bit of Cezanne, makes for a remarkable piece, both historically and aesthetically.

[JAPANESE THEATRE]. ODA OTOYA: A COLLECTION OF STAGE DESIGNS. Oda Otoya (1920-2006) began his career in the arts as an illustrator of fiction, moving to stage design in the post-war period. He created designs for many plays at the National Theatre in Tokyo, as well as the famous Little Theatre there. He published an important book on his own work in 1977: BUTAI BIJUTSU WO KANGEARU [THOUGHTS ON STAGE DESIGN]. Receiving a special Kikuta Kazuo Theatre Prize in 1977 and then the coveted Shijushô [Purple Ribbon Decoration] in 1983 for his advancement of the Japanese theatre arts, he was regarded as one of the grand old men of the Japanese theatre. Besides his extensive work in Kabuki, he also designed the sets of many modern theatre productions, including plays by Mishima, Tanizaki, etc.. This collection consists of literally thousands of his original designs and design ideas for the stage. There are: 2,311 oblong sheets, most are around 7 x 21 inches, showing proscenium views, stage backgrounds,… Read More

Kanzaki Onjun, artist.神﨑温順. Hatō no Fu 波濤之譜 [Waves], Kaze no Fu 風之譜 [Wind], Toki no Fu 時之譜 [Time] and Kaen no Fu 火焔之譜 [Fire]. Self printed. n.p. Shōwa 56 [1981]. 4 huge 55 x 35cm katazome stencil 型染 orihon folding albums bound in paper boards and housed in white chitsu with clasps and title slips. Privately printed, number 6 of a limited edition of 10 (plus 4) copies. Artist's hanko on colophons. Stencil printed text and title pages. Acknowledged as the artist's master work, the four volumes of this series are bold and dynamic, befitting the visual elements celebrated: "Waves," "Wind," "Time," and "Fire". Printed on lovely Tori-no-ko 鳥の子紙 (bird's egg) handmade paper and bound in Karagami paper 唐紙. Hatō no Fu 波濤之譜 [Waves] 1 of 4 55 x 35cm katazome stencil 型染 orihon folding albums bound in black paper boards ans housed in a chitsu with title slip. 20 full page images, combining a wave motif with Sanskrit orthography. Slight abrasion… Read More

1897. [PRANG, Louis]. ORIENTAL CERAMIC ART Illustrated by Examples from the Collection of W. T. Walters. Text by S. W. Bushell, M.D., Physician to H. B. M. Legation, Peking. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1897. From an edition limited to 500 copies (although it is unlikely that more than 200 sets were actually produced), this copy is number 74. Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of W. T. Walters, 116 full-page chromolithographic plates by Louis Prang, each with a tissue guard with letterpress description, and over 400 black and white illustrations throughout the text. viii,429 pp. Bound in 10 atlas folio volumes (22 1/2 by 17 inches) with illustrated yellow paper-covered boards, with a twisting dragon printed on each cover, backed with yellow silk. Oriental Ceramic Art is said to have be en the most lavish book production in the nineteenth-century in the United States with its 116 full-color images, each requiring anywhere from twenty to fourty-four separate lithographer's stones. But it… Read More

1909. [DESIGN] Kamisaka SEKKA, artist. MOMOYOGUSA. Kyoto: Unsodo, Meiji 42-43 [1909-10]. 3 volumes. 30.1 X 22.5 cm. Most consider it the finest Japanese design book of all time, this exquisite suite of 60 double-page color-printed woodblocks is printed and overprinted using opaque and metallic inks to produce a sumptuous surface. This is an early impression with woodgrain showing in a few prints. The condition is internally superb, with almost none of the gutter fading and metallic ink transfer common to this work. One of the finest printings we have seen. Volume one has been meticulously restored.... Some paper fill-in and other work has been so successfully accomplished as to be unnoticeable. Some paper overlay is chipped away on the front covers of volumes one and three, though they retain the original printed titles, and the paper overlay on the back of one volume is restores/replaced. A complete copy of this cornerstone of any Japanese design collection.

1566. [SCOTLAND - LAWS - GOLF] THE ACTIS AND CONSTITUTIOUNIS OF THE REALME OF SCOTLAND , maid in Parliamentis haldin be the rycht excellent, hie & mychtie Princeis, Kingis James the First, Secund, Thrid, Feird, Fyft, and in the tyme of Marie now Quene of Scottis, viseit, correctit, and extractit furth of the Registers be the Lordis depute be speciall commissioun thairto. (Edinburgh: Robert Lekpreuik) Anno Do. 1566. The first printed collection of Scottish Acts, covering the period from the accession of James I in 1424, through the reign of Mary Stuart until the time of its publication. It is sometimes referred to as "The Black Acts," because it is printed in black-letter. As important a source as it is for the study of politics and government of that time, it is often much sought after by lovers of the game of golf because it contains the earliest printed references to that game. In three statutes, issued in the years 1457, 1471, and 1491, which are printed on folios 40, 56, and 92 of the present… Read More

1921. [UNSODO] MIYOSHI Manabu. HANA SHOBU ZUFU. Unsôdô, Kyoto & Tokyo, Taishô 10 [1921]. 4 vols., each 8 3/4" X 17 3/16" with a total of 100 full page color prints of Japanese irises, along with 5 pages of color samples. In addition, there is a 40pp. letterpress text volume(6 1/4" X 8 7/8"). The definitive work on the subject and coincidentally one of the finest examples of botanical book illustration ever done in Japan by the foremost botanist (and flower painter) of his day. Printed exquisitely by the best color woodblock printer of 20th century Japan. A work of great rarity, the paper is creamy, not stark white - if toned at all, uniformly throughout. Without the image foxing sometimes seen in this work, albeit a scattering in some preliminaries. Beautifully printed. In the original clasped chitsu case.