Search Results: Titles starting with D from Ursus Books

1960. KLEIN, Yves. Dimanche: Le Journal d'un Seul Jour. 4 page 'newspaper', illustrated throughout. 558 x 762 mm. when flat, housed in a custom clamshell box. [Paris, France]: [Yves Klein], November 27, 1960. Yves Klein published this journal upon the occasion of the Festival d'Art d'Avant-Garde in Paris where it was displayed on newsstands for one day. Harry Shunk's famous photomontage of Klein's Leap into the Void is reproduced on the front page above the fold, with the headline Un homme dans l'espace! Le peintre de l'espace se jette dans le vide (A Man in Space! The Painter of Space throws himself into the void). Inside, Klein expounds on his other preoccupations: colour theory, immateriality, judo, space and emptiness. A fine copy of this fragile conceptual art feuilleton.

1942. SUGIHARA, Jiro (editor). Dai Toa kensetsu gaho: Ajia no mamori, Teikoku Kaigun. 60 pp., iIllustrated throughout with photomontages. Folio, 420 x 295 mm., bound in original illustrated wrappers. Tokyo: Nihon Denpo Tsushinsha Shuppanbu, 1942. This is the Japanese language edition of the great propaganda magazine Front, which appeared in some 15 different languages, and is clearly modeled on USSR in Construction. This version combines the first and second number, dedicated to the Imperial Navy and its "defense of Asia". Among the stunning photograph are ones showing the attacks on European holdings in Southeast Asia and the attack on Pearl Harbor. Under the direction of Kimura Ihei, Front used the talents of some of the most important of Japan's photographers. The layout was designed under the direction of Hara Hiromu. Wear to the wrappers, which are loose, and some minor water staining, but still an acceptable copy. Heiting and Ryuchi, The Japanese Photobook, No. 89.

1892. AOYAMA, Toyotaro. Dainihon Hakuranzu, Tochigi-ken no bu. [Catalog of the Industrial Exhibition (Japan): Tochigi Prefecture]. 200 engraved plates on 100 leaves. Oblong folio, 320 x 220 mm., bound in contemporary cloth backed boards, rebacked, with part of the original spine laid down, in a new chitsu case. Tokyo: Seikosha, 1890. A spectacular book, with a somewhat misleading title, but which provides a unique vision of Japan at the end of the nineteenth century, not yet in the full throes of its industrial revolution. The 200 superbly engraved plates depict everything from villages, farms, hotels, pawnbrokers, and wine and sauce makers to manure merchants. A rare book, with OCLC listing only the copy in the National Diet Library.

1847. MUELLER, G.F. Das Reich der redenden Thiere. Neuestes Fabelbuch fuer die Jugend. 58 pp., illustrated title page, 12 plates in contemporary hand colouring. Oblong 4to, 180 x 235 mm., bound in contemporary cloth-backed boards. Nuremberg: Lotzbeck, 1847. An unusual German collection of illustrated fables. Published just five years after Grandville's Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux, it could hardly be more different, with the Mueller having just a hint of anthropomorphism, unlike the Grandville. As with so many children's books, few copies seem to have survived with OCLC listing just 2 copies, both in Germany.

1828. HOSEMANN, Theodor. Das allergrösste Bilder-ABC. Title-page and 21 leaves with I, J; U, V and X, Y, Z combined on 3 leaves, with contemporary hand-colouring. Oblong folio, 350 x 415 mm., in a new cloth box. Berlin: Winckelmann, 1828. First and only edition of this stunning Biedermeier alphabet. The illustrations in this work are the first by the well-known nineteenth century German artist Theodor Hosemann. The only listing for a complete copy on OCLC is for an uncoloured copy at the University of Braunschweig. Other listings are for individual leaves.

1540. SARAYNA, Torelli. De Origine et amplitudine civitatis Veronae. 70 leaves including illustrations, erratic pagination (see below). Illustrated with woodcut printer's device on the title, woodcut portrait of the author and 26 woodcut plates, many double-page or fold-out plates, with several in-text woodcuts designed by Giovanni Caroto. Verona: Ex Officina Antonii Putelleti, 1540. BOUND AFTER: GIUSTIANI, Petrus. Rerum Venetarum ab urbe condita historia. [24], 488 pp. Small folio, 310 x 210 mm, bound in contemporary blind stamped alum tawed pigskin. Preserved in a blue half morocco folding box Venice: Comin da Trino 1560. Ad 1. First Edition. A Renaissance guide to the antiquities of Verona with illustrations designed by the artist Giovanni Caroto including a handsome woodcut portrait of the author, Torelli Sarayna, signed with Caroto's monogram. The large-scale woodcuts illustrate buildings, plans, inscriptions and details of the extensive Roman ruins plus a woodcut map of the… Read More

1945. MATISSE, Henri. De la Couleur. Illustrated with two original pochoirs by Matisse. Folio, bound in original illustrated wrappers over boards. Paris: Editions de la Revue Verve, 1945. A fine copy of one of the scarcest issues of the celebrated magazine Verve, which was published by Teriade, who also published Jazz. The issue is solely devoted to Matisse who designed the wrappers and also contributed two pochoirs, one for the title-page and the other the celebrated image of the Fall of Icarus. Most copies have been dismembered, and the pochoirs framed. Just the slightest wear at the head and foot of spine, otherwise immaculate. Claude Duthuit, Henri Matisse: Ouvrages Illustres 74.

1930. BOCCACCIO, Giovanni. The Decameron. Two volumes. xiii, 199; 200-382, [4] pp. 4to., bound in recent half maroon morocco, matching red silk over boards, black morocco spine labels gilt. New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1930. One of the earliest publications of the Limited Editions Club, and one of the most elegant. The books were designed by T.M. Cleland and printed by A. Colish. The chapter headings are beautifully printed in different colours. One of an edition of 1500 copies, signed by Cleland.

1555. 169673 RUSCELLI, Giralomo et al. Del tempio alla divina signora donna Giouanna d'Aragona. [48], 388 [i.e. 404]; 159 [i.e. 147], [37] pp. With woodcut initials throughout. Small 8vo., 148 x 100, bound in contemporary vellum, title in manuscript on the spine. Venice: Per Plinio Pietrasanta, 1555. $2500.00 First Edition of a collection of neo-Platonic verse by members of the academy, among them Ruscelli, Alessandro Piccolomini, Annibal Caro, Benedetto Varchi, Lodovico Domenichi, Giovanni della Casa, and Pietro Aretino, as well as six women poets: Anna Golfarina, Colletta Pasquale, Fausta Tacita, Gaspara Stampa, Isabella Pepoli de' Riarii, and Laura Terracina. The first part contains poems in Italian, while a second part, includes poems in Latin, Greek, and Spanish. The publication of the "Tempio" was approved by the academy in 1551, and the text of the decree appears in the introduction. The poems together constitute the "tempio," a place of worship in honor of… Read More

1797. [ZANETTI, Anton Maria and Marco BOSCHINI]. Della pittura veneziana trattato in cui osservasi l'ordine del Busching, e si conserva la dottrina, e le definizioni del Zanetti... Two volumes. viii, 145 (i.e., 245), [3, including final blank] pp.; 256 (i.e., 272) pp., each volume illustrated with an engraved frontispiece. 8vo, 165 x 110 mm., bound alike in contemporary paste paper decorated with red flowers against a striped ground, later glassine wrappers. Venice: Presso Francesco Tosi, 1797. First edition, based on Boschini's Le Minere della pittura (1664) and Zanetti's Della Pittura Veneziana (1771) with additions by the publisher, Tosi. Both Boschini and Zanetti were of fundamental importance to the history of art in Venice. Schlosser-Magnino calls Boschini's guide "the first true artistic guide to Venice," and Zanetti's inventory of Venetian painting "one of the best in its genre" (p. 548). This handy set combines their work into a comprehensive,… Read More

1986. CLEMENTE, Francesco. The Departure of the Argonaut. By Alberto Savinio. [102] ff. With 49 photolithographs, 46 in color and 3 in black on cream paper. Elephant folio, bound in original wrappers and beige linen box designed by Rudolph Rieser. London: Petersburg Press, 1986. Clemente's images are extraordinary and elevate this work to one of monumental bookmaking in conception, design, and production. The artist's designs range from monochromatic and brooding to intensely imaginary and vividly colourful. The text itself, first issued in 1917, is the travelogue and wartime diary of Alberto Savinio, one of the seminal figures in 20th-century Italian arts and letters. It is translated here from the Italian for the first time. Limited to 200 copies signed by the artist. Johnson, Artists' Books in the Modern Era 1870-2000, No. 169. Castleman, A Century of Artists Books, p. 217.

1927. DEPERO, Fortunato. Depero Futurista. 118 ff., printed on various paper stocks, of which some are coloured; most versos blank. Illustrated with 28 halftone plates in text, 2 in colour. Line-block illustrations and typographic designs throughout, many printed in red and black. Oblong 4to, 245 x 322 mm., bound in flexible blue boards, printed in black and white, secured with massive metal bolts, as issued. Preserved in a black cloth box. Milano/ New York/ Paris/ Berlin: Edizione Italiana Dinamo Azari, 1927. Depero's famous "Futurist bolted book," from his own design, is an anthology of his theatrical and commercial designs from 1913 to 1927, long regarded as one of the avant-garde masterpieces in the history of the book-object, and likely the inspiration for Duchamp's Boite en valise. "Depero Futurista exemplifies many of the Futurist innovations: witty typographical effects, the use of colored inks and decorated paper, and the brilliant idea of dynamo binding, making… Read More

1938. LE CORBUSIER. Des Canons, des Munitions? Merci! Des Logis... s.v.p. Oblong 4to., 283 x 230 mm, bound in original illustrated boards, in a new red cloth folding box. Paris: Editions de l'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, [1938]. First Edition of one of the scarcest and most sought-after books by Le Corbusier. This profusely illustrated monograph is based on Le Corbusier's involvement with the Pavillon des Temps Nouveaux in 1937. In publishing this plea for the application of the same technologies that were utilized for the fabrication of munitions and armaments of war to the realization of an enlightened architectural urbanism, Le Corbusier was nonetheless struck by the increased relevance of the title applied to his text. The title-page bears the parenthetical note: "Ce titre date de janvier 1937; il n'est nullement une allusion à l'actualité brûlante des réarmements de 1938." The pictorial boards are decorated with a collage of… Read More

1751. AMSTERDAM. Description de l'Hotel de Ville D'Amsterdam. Avec l'Explication de tous les Emblemes, Figures, Tableaux, Statues, &c. qui se trouvent dehors & dans ce Batiment. [4], 3-126, [2] pp., illustrated with 4 fold-out engravings of city hall and woodcut tailpieces. Small 8vo, 155 x 90 mm., bound in contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt with red morocco spine label, board edges gilt and marbled endpapers. Amsterdam: Dirk van Maarten, 1751. First edition. A thorough guide to the "emblems, figures, paintings, and statues" decorating Amsterdam's city hall, with four engraved plates of the old structure; the current anterior; posterior; and a floor plan of the salle des bourgeois, galleries, and apartments. In French, with some Dutch and occasional Latin. An English version (Description of the Cityhouse of Amsterdam, ESTC 96967) was printed the same year. Rare with the plates. Binding a little rubbed with small spot of glue on spine, a near fine copy.… Read More

1940. BETTENCOURT, Pierre. Deux sans Trois. Illustrated with 6 pochoirs by S. Hladky (Pierre Bettencourt). 8vo., bound in publisher's wrappers and slip case. Belle-Roche (Saint-Maurice-d'Ételan): par Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon, Seine-Inférieure, l'Auteur, 1940. A pristine copy of the first book written, printed, illustrated and published by the French printer-poet, Pierre Bettencourt. In this, his first book, he used pseudonyms for the names of the author, artist, printer and place of publication. The charming illustrations were executed in pochoir, and are, perhaps deliberately, reminiscent of the work of Serge Gladky. One of an edition of only 50 copies, all on Japon. OCLC lists only the copies in The Bibliotheque Nationale and the Bibliotheque Doucet.

1993. ELY, Timothy. Diaglyphic Monad. For Doctor Dee. One-of-a-kind manuscript book. 80 pp. Illustrated with 40 painted and drawn folios plus painted endpapers, drawn and painted throughout by Timothy Ely with each page containing drawings in ink, dry pigments, watercolour, gouache, dilute acrylics and gilded metals. 8vo., 233 x 140 mm, bound in a hand-painted relief binding consisting of heavy boards, with symbolic writing and mathematical equations intermixed with cosmological symbols, black morocco spine preserved in a new cloth box. Portland, Oregon: T. Ely, 1993. Unique painted manuscript. Signed and dated by the artist on the title page. Timothy Ely's Diaglyphic Monad is a visual laboratory, a metaphysical realm, consisting of symbolic images of architecture, floor-plans, geometry, perspective, celestial spheres, phantasmagoric spaces, ideograms, horizons, and symbolic mathematical writing. The mystical text, labeled "cribiform" by the artist, is a hybrid of… Read More

1813. GUIGNES, Chretien-Louis-Joseph de. Dictionnaire chinois, français et latin. Publié d'après l'ordre de sa majesté L'Emperuer et Roi Napoléon le Grand par M. de Guignes, résident de France à La Chine, Attaché au Ministère des Relations Extérieures, Correspondant de la Première et de la Troisieme Classe de L'Institut. [8], lvi, 1112, [4] pp. Thick folio, 475 x 310 mm, bound in contemporary French brown-stained pigskin, raised bands, tan morocco spine label stamped in gilt. Paris: l'Imprimerie Imperiale, 1813. First Edition. A massive, imposing Chinese dictionary commissioned by Napoleon in 1809, and an important work in the development of Western scholarship on China. Although given no credit in the book, the dictionary is actually a re-edit of work compiled by the Franciscan friar, Basilio de Glemona Brollo (1648-1704) during his thirty years of missionary work in China in the… Read More

1862. ADAMS, Rudolph. Die Farben-Harmonie in ihrer Anwendung auf die Damentoilette. xii, 322, 4 pp. Illustrated with 3 lithographic plates of which two are chromolithographs. 8vo., 213 x 135 mm, bound in publisher's mint green illustrated wrappers in a new cloth folding box. Leipzig: J.J. Weber, 1862. First Edition of this German work on colour discussing application specifically relating to the Damentoilette, or powder room. An introduction to colour theory is followed by sections on types of colour suitable to different complexions. A rare book with OCLC listing copies in the US, at Yale and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, BPL and U.Wisconsin, and eight copies in Europe. Wrappers slightly worn, still a good copy.

1931. LE CORBUSIER. Salubra, Colour Keyboards. Loose introductory text leaf in English. 62 single-page monochrome wallpaper samples, and 12 pages of "Clavier de Couleurs", each with 28 colour samples, and 2 cardboard screens in the pocket. Oblong folio, 285 x 220 mm., bound in original publisher's boards, in a new cloth folding box. [Basel]: Salubra, [1931]. Incredibly rare first edition of Le Corbusier's legendary Farbenklaviatur. Le Corbusier first sketched the premises of a logically structured system for color design in the magazine l'Esprit nouveau in 1921. In 1931 he published the first of the two collections of colours which he designed for the Salubra wallpaper company. In his own words, "These Keyboards of Colour aim at stimulating personal selection, by placing the task of choosing on a sound systematic basis. In my opinion they offer a method of approach which is accurate and effective, one which makes it possible to plan, in the modern home, colour… Read More

1942. RETCLIFFE, John. Die Geheimnisse des Judenfriedhofes in Prag. 43 pp. Illustrated with 28 photographic plates. 8vo., 209 x 153 mm, bound in publisher's illustrated wrappers in a new blue cloth folding box. Prague: Orbis, 1942. John Retcliffe was a nineteenth-century German anti-semite whose real name was Hermann Ottomar Friedrich Goedsche. This little book reprints part of an earlier text from his 1868 novel Biarritz. It is here accompanied by a series of excellent photographs. Published in the middle of the war, few copies seem to have survived.