Some favourite subjects:
Some favourite subjects:
Japanese textile design. (?) [Shingata Komon Chu?]. n.p. 1798? (Inscribed Kansei 10 on the back). 15x22cm wrappers labelled by hand; 36 double dark blue/indigo leaves with 72 patterns printed by stencil, most in white, six in a pinkish/mulberry colour. A remarkably good copy of a working book. There is an ink inscription inside the back cover that might have useful information but a brushed scrawl is beyond me. Au$1200
A charming sample book of new designs in fine patterns. Katazome, I think, applies to this type of indigo stencil textile pattern dyeing as well as to the larger, more illustrative designs.
CIPRIANI, Gio. Batt. [Giovanni Battista]. Scelta di Ornati Antichi e Moderni. Disegnati ed incisi .. Rome, con permesso 1801. Quarto half vellum (spine label missing, apparently recased at some time); etched title and 61 etched plates with numerous designs. Some spotting or browning but nothing too serious. Au$800
Immediately attractive and subtly so - partly because this just looks like a rare book. It is a fairly rare book and it is an attractive book of ornamental details for walls and ceilings; most are friezes, there are four urns and a few larger designs. This is not the Cipriani who came to London in 1755 and did the architectural details - just the sort of thing illustrated here - for a number of public and private buildings. This is the younger architect and engraver who worked in Rome from the 1790s until about 1830.
[HEINE, Johann August]. Traite des Batiments Propres a Loger les Animaux, qui sont necessaires a l'economie rurale;... Lepizig, Voss 1802. Folio (38x27cm) contemporary quarter calf and mottled boards (rebacked with the original spine preserved); xii,72pp and 50 engraved plates including the frontispiece - plans, elevations etc. Foxing, still a crisp copy. Au$2000
First edition - a German translation appeared a couple of years later - of this handsome, thorough, expert treatise on the architecture of animal husbandry. Heine wrote with an even hand on architecture and rural economy or, as here, both. The book begins with a plan and elevation for a house and estate and continues in sections: stables and all the other varied structures for horses; cows; pigs; sheep; birds, ducks and geese; bees; silkworms; and dogs. The bee and silkworm sections go well beyond architecture and could be self contained monographs on apiculture and sericulture.
These are no rustic sheds. These are substantial and considered - quite severe - neo-classical buildings, any one of which would be desirable real estate now. I don't remember another farm building pattern book which insists on applying rules of proportion.
PERCIER, C. & P.F.L. FONTAINE. Recueil de Decorations Interieures, comprenant tout ce qui a rapport a l'ameublement. Paris, the Authors & Didot 1812. folio, uncut in original boards, modern straight grain morocco spine. [4],43pp, 72 engraved plates. Scattered spotting; a rather good copy. Au$1650
Issued in parts from 1801 (has anyone ever seen a set?) This was the apotheosis of the Empire style, by its inventors. The elegant outline plates display interiors and furniture done for Napoleon at the Tuileries, and for clients throughout Europe. But the descriptions make clear that manufacture was by Parisian craftsmen.
ALCOTT, William A. Essay on the Construction of School-Houses, to which was awarded the prize offered by the American Institute of Instruction, August, 1831. Boston, Hilliard Gray &c 1832. Octavo disbound; 66pp, two full page plans. Some spotting or browning but a pretty good copy. Au$300
The first American work devoted to school buildings and their design. Alcott is not celebrated in architectural history, after all he was no architect but an educator, reformer and pamphleteer. But "the characteristic form of schoolhouses was established with the 1832 publication of William A. Alcott's 'Essay on the Construction of School-Houses'. Alcott stressed the importance of light, fresh air, and space in his designs." (Doggett and Wilson). Alcock was not dogmatic about the style of the building but he was about everything else, the site and landscaping, the timber for the floorboards and blackboards, the size and placing of each student's book box, the placing of coat pegs. All was to be healthy, rational, beneficial and beneficent.
The American Institute of Instruction was itself new; this was the beginning of a new movement for universal education. Over the next few years these ideas spread, often in the briefest form: Alcock's plan and key. In 1839 the superintendent of schools in Michigan submitted Alcock's plan with few modifications to the legislature and this was in turn reprinted in a Connecticut journal.
LOUDON, J.C. An Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture; .. a new edition; London, Longman &c 1836. Stout octavo contemporary green gilt calf (edges a bit rubbed, a small and inoffensive flaw in the back hinge); xx,1138pp, hundreds of wood engraved illustrations and plans. Quite a handsome copy. Au$975
Probably the fourth edition, and probably much the same as the 'new edition' of 1835, both claiming numerous corrections and re-engraved plates. This refers to the original litho plates that had already disappeared from many copies of the first edition, replaced by wood engravings. Only the first edition had the imprint of Howe in Sydney and Melville in Hobart but nonetheless this book, in all its editions, was the most used architecture book in Australia during the middle of the 19th century.
Woogaroo lunatic asylum. Report from the Joint Select Committee on the Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum, together with the proceedings ... and minutes of evidence. Brisbane, Govt printer 1869. Foolscap disbound; [4],73pp and nine litho plates: plans and elevations. Au$450
Woogaro, Queensland's first lunatic asylum, was opened in 1865 and was a disaster: built in the wrong place, badly staffed, badly managed, with woefully inadequate buildings. Two inquiries were held in 1869, one by public servants and this one by a parliamentary committee. The focus here is on the buildings, the general plan and proper management. From this inquiry came the 1869 Lunacy Act. The committee recommend buildings on the "cottage" system and given the choice between plans by Tiffin and Suter - illustrated here - chose Suter's. He crammed twice the number of patients into each building at a saving of £18 per head.
ALLEN, Charles Bruce; Murata Fumio & Yamada Koichiro. [Seiyo Kasaku Hinagata]. Tokyo, Gyokuzando 1872 (Meiji 5). Four volumes 23x15cm publisher's wrappers with printed title labels. Illustrations through the text and full page plates - copper engravings. Labels rubbed and mildly chipped; a rather good copy. Au$1500
The first western architecture book published in Japan. I'm intrigued by the choice of the modest 'Cottage Building, or hints for improving the dwellings of the labouring classes' - one of Weale's utilitarian Rudimentary Treatises. Why not European grandeur? American mass production? Allen's small book first appeared in 1849-50 and remained in print, progressively updated, into the 20th century. This translation was made from the 1867, sixth edition.
A sensible enough choice I guess, but when has sense played any part in the introduction of new ideas? Murata Fumio edited 'Seiyo Bunkenroku' (1869 &c) - based on the reports of the Takenouchi mission of 1862 - which focused on England so the connection is clear enough. That there was any significant group pushing for philanthropic reform this early in the Meiji restoration comes as a surprise to me; perhaps this book was chosen as a slap in the face to the opponents of westernisation and modernisation. Ostensibly it was a response to the 1872 Tokyo fire. Allen's book was given by an Englishman to the translator as useful for information on fire-proof buildings. Could it be that simple?
Worldcat finds no copy outside Japan - Columbia apparently has a later reprint. A search of the specialist libraries I can think of found no more.
Catalogue - tiles. Minton, Hollins & Co. Stoke Upon Trent. [Catalogue of art-painted tiles, enamelled tiles and embossed Majolica tiles]. Minton Hollins c1873. Small folio (33x22cm) publisher's cloth backed printed boards (ink stain on front cover); 2pp and 25 chromolitho plates, 12pp price list loosely inserted. Minor signs of use, the ink stain apart a rather good copy. Au$2750
Here we have the arty tiles those for walls, surrounds and so on. Encaustic and paving tile patterns were available separately from the company. Around 1870 there was a split between the partners of Minton and for a short while there were two companies making Minton tiles until a law suit settled the matter. Hence the stern declaration on the cover - and the price list - that the patents and the name belong this firm. Both cover and price list include their 1873 Vienna exposition medal and a slip added to the price list announces a price rise in August 1872 - 10% will be added to the prices here.
Maybe once a week for years and years - this was a long time ago when I kept shop with open doors in Sydney - an unappealing man would come in and ask if we had a 19th century Minton tile catalogue. When I said no, he said, "I do." I think he had some job that would be unspeakably dull but that it allowed him to tour the bookshops of greater Sydney assuring us all that he had a Minton tile catalogue. The last time I went to a Sydney book fair there he was, asking the same question with such anticipation that he barely paused for the answer before his inevitable boast. I don't remember his name, I don't know if he's still alive and I have no wish to see him ever again but still, still, I would like to say, "Why yes, yes I do".
HULME, F. Edward. Suggestions in Floral Design. London, Cassell [1878]. Folio modern half morocco (original decorated cloth front panel bound in at the end); 52pp and 52 chromolitho plates (including the title and end leaf). Some minor flaws: a stain in the bottom margin of the last couple of leaves of text, a couple of rumpled page edges and repairs to tissue guards; still rather good, clean and unfoxed. Au$1100
Hulme is mostly remembered as an art-botanist and ornamental encyclopaedist and perhaps his name has been blackened by dreary, usually incomplete, sets of 'Familiar Wild Flowers' choking the bookshops of the world. His skill as designer has been unjustly neglected and this, his most exciting book, makes that clear. The influence of his teacher and colleague Christopher Dresser is obvious in the forms and flat bright colours but that is no curse. The accompanying text is plain and helpful and the plates are beautifully printed by Dupuy of Paris.
COMBES, Edward. Report on the Lighting, Heating, and Ventilation of School Buildings in Great Britain, the continent of Europe, and America ... Sydney, Govt Printer 1880. Foolscap folio, extracted from a binding; [8],264pp, numerous plans, elevations, diagrams (four folding). Au$750
There is a literature of architecture in c19th Australia but not much of it and none of it is easy to find. Following much technical detail there are reports on particular schools in Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Philadelphia ... correspondence on the formation of a Technological Museum in Sydney with reports from the South Kensington Museum, the Imperial Technical School of Moscow ...
We finish with Appendix Z: plans and specifications of four schools for between 70 and 200 children.
AUDSLEY, W. & G. [William & George]. Polychromatic Decoration as Applied to Buildings in the Mediaeval Styles. London, Sotheran, 1882. Folio publisher's gilt cloth (wear to tips); [8],32pp and 36 chromolitho plates interleaved with descriptive text. Light browning, quite a good copy. Au$500
Careful and plain descriptions and practical advice accompany the sometimes spectacular designs. A chart offers the colours and tints most suitable for decorative painting and patterns are grouped for specific wall areas and features. At the end are four plates of alphabets.
Hayashi Tamiji. [Kibutsu Zushiki - Vessel Patterns (more or less)]. Tokyo, Hayashi Tamiji 1888 [Meiji 21]. 245x180mm publisher's wrapper with printed label (sometime rebacked with rice paper and since split down the spine); [2]pp, one single and 51 double page litho plates. Bound as an accordian fold, with one plate separated down the fold. Signs of use but pretty good for a book virtually guaranteed to be used to pieces - as was the only other copy I've seen.. Au$600
An intriguing thing: a lithographed pattern book for export ceramic ware and very much a working book. Essential at the time when Japanese manufactury moved from craft to industry with the introduction of plaster casting, transfer printing and so on. Pots, cups and saucers, jugs, vases, urns, bowls ... some items are shown decorated, some show enough decoration to be a guide and many are outline plates - some at full scale - to get the form right. Getting the form right was the important bit at this point, pattern books for decoration were plentiful.
This has the look of being adapted from a Chinese work - which makes sense, the Chinese had a long established export market, and some of the forms here are already a century old - but I can't trace what that may be; nor can I find much about this. Worldcat finds only a copy in Chicago and the National Diet Library entry, which via CiNii leads us to Kyushu University, the sole copy.
Akita Yazaemon. - [Shinsen Daiku Hinagata - Seiyo Gijutsu] Tokyo, Togaido 1889 (Meiji 22). 26x18cm publisher's wrapper with title label; lithograph(?) illustrations throughout, a couple with rubrics. A bit used but pretty good. Au$250
An unusual carpenter/builder's pattern book - for both the size and clarity of the drawings - of western gates, fences, masonry arches, roof trussing, gable and finial, and staircases. The subtitle translates more or less as 'western technology'.
Kuroda Masanori. [Tojiki Isho Hyohon]. Dainippon Ceramic Industry Association, 1895 (Meiji 28). 24x17cm publisher's decorated wrapper (a bit marked); 30 woodcut (and lithograph?) plates on 15 double leaves, 12 colour, the rest printed in black or blue. Rather good. Au$600
A scarce and intriguing pattern book of mostly fancy ceramics - what I'd call export stuff - issued by the industry association with enough plates detailing both form and decoration to be most useful. So who is for? A guide for the trade or for the customer? Maybe both. Given that two of the three copies I've traced were pretty revolting I'd guess trade.
Worldcat finds no copies outside Japan.
Nakajima Shunko. [Kokon Hiden Tsukiyama Teizoho]. Osaka, Aoki Suzando 1896 (Meiji 29). Three volumes, 18x12cm, publisher's wrappers with title labels. Profusely illustrated throughout. The third volume, which is all double page and folding plates, has a pasted paper spine rather than stitching and is coming loose. An outstanding set in colour illustrated outer wrapper (fukuro). Au$200
The secrets (hiden means secret) of Tsukiyama garden design, which I have now learned is something I always wanted: gardens with artificial hills, streams and ponds.
Architecture. The International Competition for the Phoebe Hearst Architectural Plan for the University of California. San Francisco, published by the trustees [1899]. Oblong folio publisher's printed wrapper, cord tied (front wrapper and spine chipped); 150pp - 41 introductory pages in four languages; the rest renderings, plans, elevations, photo illustrations. Au$165
Parisian Emile Benard won the competition but wouldn't come to San Francisco to see it built and the university ended up, for the most part, in the hands of local John Howard (fourth prize). It's easy to see Benard's appeal - his design is of the style and scale of an imperial capital which would have pleased both Hearst and Wallot, one of the judges. At first glance I would have said that the design of third prize winners Despradelle and Codman owed something to Burley Griffin, except that of course at this time he was barely up to sharpening pencils for Dwight Perkins. I think all 11 premiated plans are illustrated.
VERNEUIL, M.P. Etude de la Plante. Son application aux industries d'art .. pochoir, papier peint etoffes, ceramique .. Paris, Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts [c1900]. folio, publisher's stencilled cloth; 326pp, with some 379 hand coloured illustrations. Inner front hinge cracked but firm, some scattered spots; a rather good copy. Au$2000
One of the great art nouveau books, a book that glows with colour and bristles with ideas. A strict application of first principles to design, Verneuil covers ceramics, wallpapers, binding, mosaic, stained glass, jewelry, metalwork, pochoir, and on.
Textile sample book. [cover title] [Sawa Shirushi - Kyozome Gofuku Oroshisho]. Kyoto, Sawada Shoten [190-?]. 23x16cm publisher's cloth (discoloured) with bone clasp; 100 silk samples in accordian folding heavy printed card mounts. With another defective sample book with 30 of 32 samples of dyed cottons. Au$225
Finely grained, creped and patterned silks for kimonos. The name Sawada is still connected with kimonos in Kyoto but I can't trace any relationship. The current Sawada Shoten in Kyoto sells work clothes and was founded in 1968.
Kimono design. [Miyuki]. Koizumi Gofkuten [190-?]. 37x25cm colour printed boards, ribbon tied (rubbing, edges with some wear); [2]pp & 30 colour lithographs. Some tissues creased and rumpled, signs of use but a perfectly acceptable copy. Au$450
A large and fairly deluxe chromolithographed pattern book of kimono designs. The current Kyoto Koizumi Co deals in kimono and fashion and trace their history back to the early 18th century. Presuming this is the same company they have come down in the world since the days of pattern books like this.
Textiles. - [Shokumon Zue - Miyuki]. Tokyo, Yoshikawa 1901. Two volumes, 25x18cm, publishers patterned wrappers with printed labels; 23 and 26 double folded leaves, being a leaf of text in each, 44 and 50 pages of coloured woodblock prints, each page with one or two designs. Some surface blemishes to wrappers. Au$150
Something of a masterpiece of woodblock printing, but not for the usual reasons. These are designs for woven rather than printed patterns, and in many cases one needs to hold the plate at the right angle to see that a design, or the particular texture of a cloth, has been overprinted, embossed or burnished into what seems a monochromatic square.
Part of a fairly large series, the Kojitsu Sosho or Library of Ancient Customs, these two cover textile designs for costumes for imperial visits.
Izumi Kojiro. [Wayo Kagu Hinagata]. Osaka, Matama Seikado 1902 (Meiji 35). Two volumes 12x18cm, publisher's wrappers with title labels; semi measured drawings throughout. Minor signs of use, rather good. Au$250
A nifty pattern book of Japanese and western furniture designs, clear enough that a decent carpenter/joiner could build straight from the book. There are several designs for display and shopfittings among the bureaus, tripod tables, screens and tansu.
Catalogue - printed photograph mounts. Asanuma Shokai. [Shashin Daishi Teika-hyo]. n.p. Asanuma Shokai 1903 (Meiji 36). 18x23cm publisher's decorated wrapper; [8]pp and 12 pages of illustrated examples in various monochromes. A nice copy. Au$500
A mountain of printed and most decorative mounts for studio photographs were produced but this is the first catalogue of them I've seen. Most of these appear to be actual examples produced for photographers in Japan, Hong Kong, China and maybe Manchuria - judging by the Russian type. As an example of maybe a dim corner of photographic history - I don't know enough to judge - this is pretty good, but as an example of a dark corner of graphic design and commercial printing this is fabulous.
The last plate is an array of decorative borders.
BINET, Rene. Esquisses Decoratives. Paris, Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts [c1905]. Folio, loose as issued in four fascicules in illustrated wrappers, all in publisher's portfolio of cloth backed illustrated boards; [2],14pp and 60 plates, 13 pochoir and a few others with a second colour added, b/w illustrations through the text. A rather good copy. Au$2000
Binet, like many architects and designers, followed Haeckel into the microscopic world for grotesque and fantastic inspiration but married such modernity with historicism in a singular way. Durant (in 'Ornament') calls Binet 'in many respects the typical French Art Nouveau designer' which, apart from being too dismissive, is just not right. Many of his designs, particularly the coloured graphics, are ultra modern high art nouveau but much of his work has an oddly arcane, recherche effect - in which something as modern as an electric light switch modelled on the forms of diatomes or radiolaria and treated with Beaux Arts tradition becomes a mysterious if not menacing almost gothic artifact. Without claiming anything of the same stature, or even similar results, for Binet he could probably be more usefully likened to Gaudi. This is an exposition of ideas for every school of design that Binet could encompass - from architectural detail to pochoir graphics; shop fronts to tapestry; stained glass to gardens; jewellery to mosaics.
Catalogue - Garden Furniture. John P. White, Bedford. A Complete Catalogue of Garden Furniture and Garden Ornament. By John P. White, The Pyghtle Works, Bedford ... Xmas, 1906. Bedford 1906. Quarto publisher's printed wrapper (a missing piece from the back wrapper expertly replaced); 112pp illustrated in line and photo throughout. A couple of related flyers loosely inserted, quite a good copy. Au$875
From pots to bridges and greenhouses; an extensive range, essential for the chic but thoroughly English - ie Arts & Crafts - garden. White made furniture designed by Baillie Scott and some of this stuff may well be his but the designs here are, with two exceptions, uncredited except by inference from a passing remark to White himself. The two credited are by The Hon. Mrs. Anstruther. You don't withold credit from someone like her.
Many of the drawings are signed and while it isn't clear that the artist was also the designer those signed 'J.C.' are likely by James Crossland who designed furniture for White at about this time.
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