Patterns and Poetry: Japanese No Play Robes from the Lucy Truman Aldrich Collection at the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

Providence, RI: Rhode Island School of Design, 1992. 190 pages, illustrations (some colour); 32 cm. Firm binding, clean inside copy. OVERSIZE! No priority/international, except by arrangement. Richly illustrated with colour plates. "This collection in the Museum of Art at the Rhode Island School of Design, is one of the finest in the United States and was assembled largely on the spot in Japan during the 1920's by Rhode Islander Lucy Truman Aldrich... The 47 costumes came to the Museum by gift and bequest from Miss Aldrich herself and represent all categories of Noh costume. Four essays document the history of the collection, including Miss Aldrich's encounter with Chinese bandits; poetic allusion in the imagery of the robes; the traditional methods of making Noh robes; and the evolution of Noh costume over 650 years. Individual entries with colour illustrations discuss each of the 47 objects." - Publisher. CONTENTS: Introduction, by Susan Anderson Hay; Providence, Paris, Kyoto, Peking: Lucy Truman Aldrich and her collections, by Susan Anderson Hay; Where poetry and pattern meet, by Helen M. Nagata; No costumes from conception to use, by Monica Bethe; A history of No costume, by Iwao Nagasaki (translated and adapted by Monica Bethe); On the occasion of an exhibition of the Lucy Truman Aldrich Collection, 1937, by Kojiro Tomita; Calalogue: Entries, by Iwao Nagasaki (translated and adapted by Monica Bethe); Introductory sections, by Monica Bethe; Technical analyses, by Pamela A. Parmal: Karaori. Nuihaku. Surihaku. Choken. Maiginu. Katsura-obi. Kariginu. Happi. Atsuita. Hangire. Koshi-obi.. 1st. Paperback. Fine. Folio. Collectible.