Search Results: Titles starting with K from Ursus Books

1944. AVANT-GARDE GRAPHIC DESIGN. KVT. Koninklijke Vereenigde Tapijtfabrieken. Propaganda en Andere Planenvoor de Toekomst. 41 pp. text and 54 pages of collages, illustrated typescript, 2 pop-up dioramas. Small folio, 280 x 212 mm., original boards. Rotterdam: N.p., 1944. A splendid piece of avant-garde book design, reminiscent of Heartfield. Founded in 1797 KVT was a major manufacturer of carpets until its demise in 1995. A unique document outlining the business strategies and direction of KVT amidst WWII and following the destruction of their headquarters in Rotterdam as they sought to re-establish themselves in the international market.

1928. SHINJURO, Ichikawa. Kabuki kumadori. 12 volumes, 71 of 72 plates. Folio, 330 x 245 mm., loose as issued in original cardboard portfolios with paper labels, in a new chitsu case. Tokyo: Isseisha, 1928. A spectacular and highly unusual book, consisting of a collection of superb woodblock plates depicting the made-up faces of kabuki actors. Each plate is accompanied by a Japanese text with an abbreviated English translation. Kumadori is stage makeup worn by kabuki actors, particularly when performing in the bold and bombastic aragoto style. The cardboard portfolios are worn, but the contents are fine. Extremely rare, and desirable despite lacking a plate.. OCLC lists 3 copies in the U.S., at Harvard, RISD and U. California Davis, and 2 others worldwide.

1930. AYAO, Yamano. Kafee Baa Kissaten Kokoku Zuanshu. 48 pp., illustrated throughout with colour and black-and-white illustrations and some photomontage. Folio, 300 x 225 mm., bound in publisher's boards in the original cardboard portfolio. Tokyo: Seibundo, 1930. A collection of designs by the important twentieth-century Japanese decorator/designer Yamana Ayao (1897-1980), the originator of the "Shiseido-style" during his long tenure as the cosmetic company's head designer. This particular portfolio is a compilation of his designs for the coffee shop/bar trade, introducing a modified Deco aesthetic which was the height of chic between the wars. Some browning, overall a very good copy of a rare book. Not listed in OCLC.

1943. MATSUGI, Fujio. Kaigun Heigakko. Hodo Shashinshu. 134 pp., illustrated with photographs throughout. Folio, 257 x 179 mm., bound in cloth in publisher's dust wrapper and illustrated slipcase. Tokyo: Bancho Shobo, 1943. A typical example of one of the photobooks produced by Matsugi, who was a prominent photographer in prewar Japan. This book documents the training of Naval cadets during the early 40s and is one of the best examples of so-called 'news-photography' (hodo shashin) in the 'patriotic' vein. A superb copy in the dust wrapper and slipcase.

1934. TAMBI, Il'in. Kak Avttomobil' Ucilsya Khodit'. 23, [1] pp. Small 4to, bound in original green illustrated wrappers, preserved in a new green cloth box. Leningrad: Gos. izd-vo detskoi lit-ry, 1934. A fine copy of this rare and charmingly illustrated children's history of the automobile. OCLC lists only two copies worldwide, of which one is in America.

1927. LEBEDEV, W. Kak rubanok sdelal rubanok. By Samuel Marschak. 12 pp., illustrated throughout by Lebedev. Folio, 280 x 215 mm., bound in original illustrated wrappers, preserved in a new cloth folding box. Leningrad: Raduga, 1927. First edition of this classic Russian children's book with illustrations by Lebedev. In this anthropomorphic poem, "How a plane made a plane," an old carpenter's plane realizes he can no longer do his job. With the help of his friends, the saw, mallet, and chisel, the plane creates a new young plane, his "grandson," who will take his place. A fine copy, rare with OCLC listing copies at Princeton, NYPL, University of Washington and the Toronto Public Library.

1932. TAKEI, Takeo. Kansatsu ehon - Kinda bukku - boku kei. 16 pp. including covers, all colour lithographs on light card. Oblong folio, 260 x 380 mm., bound in publisher's illustrated wrappers in a new blue cloth folding box. Tokyo: Fureberukan, 1932. This is one in a series of "observation" books begun in 1927 by the now named Froebel-kan - based on the principles of educator Friedrich Froebel. An interesting example of prewar Japanese book design for children, with some of the plates verging on kitsch, and some almost surreally avant-garde.

1933. SEDEL'NIKOV, Nikolai. Karatel'naya politika kapitalisticheskih stran: Sbornik statei. [Punitive Policies of the Capitalist Countries]. 196 pp., illustrated throughout with photomontage. 8vo, 223 x 141 mm., publisher's illustrated boards and photomontages by Sedel'nikov. Moscow: Sovetskoe zakonodatel'stvo [State Institute for the Study of Crime], 1933. Illustrated with 7 photomontages by Sedel'nikov who also designed the striking cover. Despite some wear to the fragile covers, this is a fine copy of an extremely rare book. Not listed on OCLC.

1939. NAKAYAMA, Masataka. Kasuri Shunju. [26] pp., double-page title, illustrated with 24 pages of colour woodblock plates, each with two images, on double leaves folded accordion style (orihon). Folio, 300 x 220 mm., bound in publisher's silk over boards, in a new folding chitsu case. Kyoto: Uchida Bijutsu Shoshi, 1939. This is one volume of a multi-volume set of textile designs. This one on Kasuri, a traditional textile, which is the specialty of the Iyo region in Ehime Prefecture. The Japanese verb "kasuru" means to gently touch something, which is where the name "kasuri" comes from because the pattern in the fabric looks like it has been lightly touched. Kasuri is a craft that has an ancient and well-beloved tradition behind it in the Iyo region and there are many different varieties. Some wear to the boards, otherwise fine with plates clean and bright.

1907. A KEMPIS, Thomas. A Kempis. [4], 307, [1] pp. Small 8vo., bound in contemporary three-quarter blue morocco, spine gilt, five raised bands. Uncut. London: Arthur L. Humphreys, 1907. A handsome printing containing the writings of Thomas A Kempis, including his musings on the love of solitude and silence, the profit of adversity, of inconstancy of heart, that a man should not be fretful in business, and wherein peace of heart and spiritual progress consisteth. A fine copy.

1932. ITAGAKI, Takao & Sutemi HORIGUCHI. Kenchiku Yoshiki Ronso. 707, [5] pp., illustrated throughout with architectural diagrams and photographs. Small 4to, 200 x 180 mm., bound in publisher's tan cloth within original printed card slipcase. Tokyo: Rokumonkan, 1932. First edition. An expansive collection of writings on style in architecture curates by Itagaki, the leading proponent of modernism in pre-war Japan, and Horiguchi, who pioneered the union of modern and traditional Japanese architecture. Other contributors include Ichiura Ken, Yamada Mamoru and Taniguchi Yoshiro. Kawakita Renshichiro, who placed impressively in the 1930 international competition for the Ukraine state theatre, details the structure of the designs. Saito Torao contributes what appears to be a ferociously technical study of the airport in modern cities. Itagaki writes on the Roman dome while Horiguchi writes on the philosophy and composition of the tearoom - in its way the apotheosis of modernism. Some slight… Read More

1930. BURTSEVA, M., editor. Khudozhestvennoe Dvizhenie [Artistic Movement]. 192 pp., illustrated with 100 mostly photographic illustrations. 8vo, bound in illustrated wrappers in a new cloth folding box. Leningrad: Fizikultura i Sport, 1930. A very rare book on the promotion of artistic movement. No copies listed on OCLC.

1929. ITAGAKI, Takao. Kikai to Geijutsu to no Koryu [The Correspondence or Cultural Exchange between Machine and Art]. Illustrated throughout with photographs. 8vo, publisher's decorated linen over boards, with two mounted photographs, and cardboard slipcase, in a new cloth folding box. Tokyo: Iwanami, Shoten, 1929. An unusually fine copy of this important Japanese anthology of modernist architecture, art and design, and its precursors. Among the illustrations are reproductions of buildings by Le Corbusier, Gropius and Mies van der Rohe, and of film stills by Man Ray and Hans Richter. The text is by Itagaki, who is considered the foremost proponent of modernism in pre-war Japan. The design of the book, binding and slipcase by Masao Horino are very much Bauhaus inspired. Ryuichi and Heiting, The Japanese Photobook, No. 42.

1941. JAPAN. AIR DEFENCE ASSOCIATION. Kokumin Boku Zufu. Title, Colophon and 35 colour lithographic Plates. Oblong Folio. 750 x 515 mm. Loose in a new cloth folding box. Tokyo: Japan Air Defence Association,1941. A truly extraordinary example of Japanese graphic art. As with much material published between the wars by the Rusia, Italy and Japan there is a tremendous disconnect between the immense aesthetic appeal and the dreary subject matter. As far as the condition is concerned, there is some damage, with posters 14 to 25 having a top corner chewed only affecting the numbers and the very corner of the image on four or five. There is also some browning and torn or chipped edges on several, and each sheet has two punched holes at the top which shows they were cord tied. Despite these factors this is still a more than acceptable copy of this possibly unique set. The only listing on OCLC is a different set of posters published in 1944 in the National Diet Library.

1936. MANSHUKOKU KOKUMIN. [Hsinking]. Kokuto shinkyo kensetsu no zenbo. Colour printed sheet 540 x 780 mm with colour bird's eye view and panorama on one side; Colour plan, smaller photo illustrations and text on verso. Preserved in a new blue cloth folding box. ?? 1936. A superb map of Changchun, which was the capital of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo from 1932 to 1945. Hsinking was a well-planned city with broad avenues and modern public works. Under the Japanese the city underwent rapid expansion in both its economy and infrastructure. Many of buildings built during the Japanese colonial era still stand today, including those of the Eight Major Bureaus of Manchukuo as well as the Headquarters of the Japanese Kwantung Army. The rear of the map has substantial text, which is accompanied by photographs and a design for how part of the city would look. Copies of the map are rare.

1936. SOVIET TRADE CATALOGUE. Kolbasy i myasokopchenosti. [Sausages and smoked meats]. Soviet Union. Glavnoe upravlenie miasnoi promyshlennosti. 3 volumes. 1: Livernyye i krovyanyye kolbasy. [Liverwurst and Blood Sausages.] 32 pp. 1936. 2: Kopchenyye kolbasy. [Smoked sausages.] 68 pp. 1937. 3. Zil'tsy i studni. [Brawns and Aspics.] 32 pp. 1937. Illustrated throughout. Oblong 8vo, 146 x 214 mm., publisher's blind-stamped wrappers. Moscow; Leningrad: Pishchepromizdat, 1936 & 1937. These three surreal homages to the sausage are a modest forerunner to the massive work produced in 1938 by the same publisher. While far smaller, the plates, each with an individual sausage, still have a somewhat surreal quality. While they do not have the avant-garde sensibility of Telingater's ball bearing catalogue or Piet Zwart's wire catalogue, these odes to the sausage can certainly lay claim to a place in surrealist literature. These are rare books and are not listed on OCLC.

1935. ZWART, Piet. Koninklijke Begeer: Catalogus van Medailles, Plaquettes, Sportprijzen. 44 pp., illustrated with photomontage throughout. Small 4to, bound in original silver wrappers, in a new matching cloth folding box. Voorschoten: Koninklijke Begeer, 1935. A little-known example of Piet Zwart's work as a book designer, here devoted to the catalogue of the Dutch royal collection of coins and medals. As is typical of Zwart's work, he takes a potentially dull subject and injects it with life through imaginative use of layout and typography. A little wear to the covers, some light foxing to the blank verso of the front and back cover, else fine. Rare with OCLC listing only 2 copies worldwide, both in the Netherlands.

1946. TOKYO. Konsaisu Tokyo-to 35-ku kubun chizucho: sensai shoshitsu kuiki hyoji. By Nihon Chizu Kabushiki-gaisha. 27 double-page coloured maps, preceded and followed by a double-page outline map. Small 8vo, 180 x 88 mm., bound in publisher's illustrated boards. Tokyo: Nitchi Shuppan, 1946. A fascinating atlas of Tokyo published shortly after the end of the war, and showing the areas which were bombed. Boards slightly rubbed.

1907. KORIN, Furuya. Korin moyo. 2 volumes. With 13 and 12 double-page woodcut plates. 8vo, 250 x 180 mm., publisher's wrappers in a recent chitsu case. Kyoto-shi : Unsodo, 1907. A truly spectacular collection of design plates by this important Rimpa artist. The work was primarily intended for inspiration in the manufacture of kimonos, and many of the plates are heightened in gold and silver. OCLC lists Stanford, Chicago Botanic Garden, Penn, Harvard, Royal Ontario Museum, British Library, Diet Library and one in Germany.

1840. EXPEDITION WATERCOLOURS. Krusenstern Voyage. 1 f. text and 50 original watercolours. 4to, 280 x 200 mm., bound in Japanese concertina form, original paper over boards, paper title-label on top cover, in a new chitsu folding case. [Tokyo?]: [ca. 1840]. A fascinating album of watercolours made after the originals painted during the first Russian circumnavigation undertaken by the vessel Nadezhda under Ivan F. Krusenstern with the purpose of establishing trade with China and Japan. The expedition landed briefly in Brazil and rounded Cape Horn, visiting the Marquesas Islands, Hawaii, Kamchatka and Japan. Among the subjects portrayed in their native costume are: a Chinese scholar with two students holding books; two Chinese ladies; a Korean couple; a Siamese couple with their child; a Persian couple; a Javanese couple; a French couple; a Spanish couple; a Portuguese couple; a Russian couple; a German couple; an English couple; two Greenlanders; a couple from Guinea; an African couple; a… Read More