Search Results: Titles starting with M from Ursus Books

1945. Venturi, Lionello. MARC CHAGALL. 47 pp. text includes 2 tipped-in, color plates, 25 drawings in b&w, and is followed by 64 b&w plates. 4to., cloth. New York, Pierre Matisse Editions, 1945. Edition limited to 1500 copies.

1945. DUCHAMP, Marcel. View. Series V., No. 1. With texts by Andre Breton, Robert Desnos, and others. Profusely illustrated, including a foldout plate. Small folio, bound in stapled wraps, in a new navy cloth folding box. New York: March, 1945. The sought-after Duchamp number of Charles Henri Ford's celebrated magazine, with the original cover designed by Duchamp. The centerfold, "Les Larves D'Imagie D'Henri Robert Marcel Duchamp," is by Frederick J. Kiesler. The issue contains numerous important texts on Duchamp by, among others, Andre Breton, Gabrielle Buffet, Robert Desnos, Harriet and Sidney Janis. Just the slightest rubbing at the head of the spine, but overall a fine copy. Schwarz, The Complete Work of Marcel Duchamp No.508. Andel, Avant Garde Page Design 460-461..

1991. VAN DE VELDE, Ronny. Marcel Duchamp. Folio. Exhibition Catalog, loose objects in a wooden chessboard box. Antwerp: Ronny Van de Velde, 1991. "This de luxe edition of the catalogue...consists of the following items: a list of the exhibits, a portfolio with faithful reproductions of works by Duchamp, also including a copy of H. Vuibert, Les Anaglyphes geometriques, Paris: Librarie Vuibert, 1912 (with 3D-glasses) and a reproduction of a page from The Blind Man No. 2 (P.B.T.); a book with articles on Duchamp by Andre Breton and Arturo Schwarz (inserted, on a separate sheet, a reproduction of Le Grand Verre); an audiocassette of Duchamp speaking; a single photograph of "Marcel Duchamp at the Age of Eighty-Five" for View's special Marcel Duchamp number. All of these items are packed in a wooden box, the top and bottom of which being reproductions of Duchamp's 'mental' Chess Board." De luxe edition limited to 850 numbered copies.

1925. MOHOLY-NAGY, L. Malerei, Photografie, Film. 140 pp., includes over 100 black & white illustrations. 4to, 230 x 176 mm., publisher's cloth, dust jacket and glassine, in a new cloth folding box. Munich: Albert Langen Verlag, 1925. Rare first edition of this landmark work with typography, dust jacket, and design all by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. Among the many illustrations are work by Alfred Stieglitz, F. M. Duncan, Charlotte Rudolf, Renger-Patzsch, Moholy-Nagy, Grünewald, Consemüller, J. B. Polak, Man Ray, Eckner, Lohöfener, Dr. Mabuse, Muche, Citroen, Hannah Höch. This is Volume 8 of the series Bauhaus Bucher, edited by Gropius and Moholy-Nagy. Some slight damage to the dust jacket, which is also a later issue, with Photographie spelled Fotografie. Nevertheless, an exceptional copy. Roth. The Book of 101 Books pp. 44-45. Wingler 563, 8 - Heidtmann 5507 - Fleischmann 22 Bolliger VI, 54. Andel, Avant Garde Page Design 341-343. Fundacion Juan March, The… Read More

1801. PARIS. Manuel du Voyageur a Paris. By Claude-Francois-Xavier Mercier de Compiegne. [20], 352 pp. 12mo, 140 x 87 mm., bound in original wrappers and paper label, later glassine cover. Paris: Favre, An 1X [1801]. A lovely copy of this extremely detailed Napoleonic guide to Paris for 1801. This little book is a mine of information on Paris at the very beginning of the nineteenth century, with descriptions of a vast variety of buildings, cultural entities such as the opera and theatres, and also commercial enterprises. A very good copy in unsophisticated condition. OCLC only lists two copies in libraries worldwide.

1954. CORNELL, Joseph. Maria. 6 unpaginated leaves with printed text, with one decorative headpiece. Small 8vo, 143 x 107 mm., bound in original printed wrappers, in a new cloth folding box. New York: Salamander Editions, 1954. An immaculate copy of this rare artist's book which was privately printed by Cornell, and given away to his friends as presents. It was inspired by the nineteenth-century opera singer Maria Malibran-Garcia. Included is a handwritten note from Cornell to the owner of the book. OCLC lists only one copy at Utah State Library. Ashton, A Joseph Cornell Album.

1820. ACKERMANN, Rudolph. Marriage Costumes of Various Nations. Illustrated with 12 hand-coloured aquatint engravings printed on card stock. Cards measure 120 x 90 mm., loose in the original publisher's glazed gray paper covered slipcase with green printed paper label on top cover and extra plate on the rear cover, preserved in a new grey cloth folding box. London: Ackermann Repository of Arts, [1820]. A rare Ackermann publication. The twelve hand-coloured aquatints illustrate twelve brides and a grooms wearing different wedding costumes based on local traditions from regions throughout Europe: Austrians, Poles, Spaniards, Scottish, Turks, Russians, Italians, Swiss, Africans, Illyrians, Hungarians and Styrians. They are nicely executed and the colours are fresh and bright. Fine in the original box. Not found in Tooley, Abbey, Hardie, Lipperheide, Colas or Hiler.

1893. OGAWA, K. Military Costumes in Old Japan. 34 pp., illustrated with 15 black-and-white plates reproducing photographs taken by K. Ogawa. Folio, bound in paper wrappers, Japanese-style, side-sewn with new blue ribbon, in new cloth box. Tokyo: K. Ogawa, [1893]. The photographs taken by K. Ogawa, under the direction of Chitora Kawasaki of Ko-yu-kai (Tokyo Fine Art School), show military costumes from the Fujiwara through Ashiga periods (the 10th through 16th centuries). Ogawa Kazuma (1860-1929) was one of Japan's premier nineteenth-century photographers. As the preface states, other photographs in these volumes were supplied by the Englishman William Kinimond Burton (1853-1899) and Kajima Seibei (1866-1824); both of these men were instrumental in the development of photography as a commercial art form in Japan. The half-tone illustrations appear on rectos only and were printed by the National Chemigraph Company of St. Louis. Covers show general, light soiling and a bit of wear at corners,… Read More

1926. RAMSAYE, Terry. A Million and One Nights. Two volumes. lxx, [2], 400; [4], 401-868 pp. Illustrated with frontispiece portraits of Thomas Edison and Charlie Chaplin, plus 100 illustrations throughout (mostly photographic). Large thick 8vo., bound in recent blue half morocco, blue cloth over boards. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1926. First Edition. Thomas Edison is known to have stated: "This is, I believe, the first endeavor to set down the whole and true story of the motion picture." A landmark in the study of early film, owing to the fact that in the creation of this work the author was able to consult with virtually all of the major film pioneers; much of the information cannot be found elsewhere. 100 Books on Hollywood and the Movies, No. 73.

1902. de FORNARO, Carlo. Millionaires of America. Unpaginated, [4] pp. text, illustrated with 12 full-page chromolithographic caricatures. Folio, 360 x 275 mm., loose in publisher's illustrated folded boards. New York: "Medusa" Pub. co., 1902. A complete set of these scarce caricatures of prominent millionaires: J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Russell Sage, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, W.C. Whitney, James J. Hill, George J. Gould, John Jacob Astor, O.H.P. Belmont, Charles M. Schwab Tom L. Johnson, and Senator William Andrews Clark. Copies were probably broken up, which would account for its scarcity. OCLC lists only 8 copies, all in American libraries.

1921. NAVEZ, Géo. Miousic. Sept Poemes a la Louange de la Musique Baroque. By Paul-Gustave Van Hecke. 46, [2] pp., illustrated with 7 pochoir plates by Géo Navez. Folio, 325 x 235 mm., bound in publisher's light brown printed wrappers in a new red cloth folding box. Brussels: Editions Selection, 1921. This is one of 25 copies on Holland hors commerce and lettered O of a total 132 copies printed. Inscribed by the author to the secretary of the Comedie Française, Jean Valmy-Baisse. A collection of 7 poems by the polymath Paul-Gustave Van Hecke (1887-1967), a Belgian poet and art patron, who was associated with the surrealists, especially Magritte, Ernst and Man Ray. The poems are accompanied by 7 striking hand-coloured pochoir plates by Géo Navez (1890-1975), a central figure in the artistic avant-garde in 1920s Belgium. The printed wrappers have an unusual design using advertisements. Edges of the covers a little worn as true in most copies, overall a near… Read More

1911. TAKEDA, Narajiro. Misa. 12 leaves showing 24 plates. Folio, 355 x 245 mm., publisher's decorated fabric binding in cloth chitsu case. Kyoto: Daimaru Gohukuten, 1911. A spectacular album of kimono designs, and also a perfect example of the unrivalled quality of Japanese woodblock printing. OCLC lists only the National Diet Library.

1899. OGAWA KAZUMA. A Model Japanese Villa. 4 pp., illustrated with 14 hand-coloured collotype plates. Oblong folio, 265 x 375 mm., bound in publisher's silk-covered boards, in a new cloth folding box. Tokyo: Ogawa, 1899. Splendid Japanese photo album depicting Meiji style gardens surrounding a model country villa. This appealing work in a handsome copy represents a rare example of Ogawa's collotype folios. The fourteen plates offer a total of eighteen images, two of the plates each displaying three images. Copies seem to have from thirteen to fifteen plates and varying images. In addition to the villa itself, extensive coverage is given to the landscaped gardens and the select flowers and shrubs therein. Ogawa Kazuma (1860-1929), one of the most celebrated early Japanese photographers and a founder of the first Japan Photographic Society, was introduced to photography in 1873 while at missionary school in Tokyo. He spent three years in the United States learning portrait photography;… Read More

1939. NEURATH, Otto. Modern Man in the Making. 159, [1] pp., illustrated throughout with charts and diagrams. Small 4to, 265 x 205 mm, bound in publisher's blue cloth with title in silver on spine and front cover. New York: Knopf, 1939. In the 1920s, Neurath developed the "Museum of Society and Economy" as a means of conveying complicated social and economic facts. Together with the illustrator Gerd Arntz and with Marie Reidemeister, Neurath created "Isotype," a symbolic way of representing quantitative information via easily interpretable icons. Isotype was hugely influential, especially in the Soviet Union. It was much used as a design element, and is, in fact, still omnipresent. Modern Man in the Making is Neurath's magnum opus, and despite being a trade book, is notoriously hard to find. Spine faded, otherwise fine. See: Otto Neurath, The Language of the Global Polis.

1806. OKADA, Gyukuzan, et al. Morokoshi Meisho Zue. [Illustrated Description of Famous Sites of China]. Six volumes bound in five, xylographically printed and illustrated throughout, including many double-page woodcut illustrations. 8vo, 265 x 185 mm., bound Japanese-style in original tan paper wrappers with printed paper lettering pieces, in a modern green cloth chemise. Kyoto, Edo, Byo, and Osaka: Hayashi Ihei et al, Bunka, 1805. Very rare first edition of this guide to the key sites in China during the Qing dynasty, edited and illustrated by the Japanese artists Okada Gyokuzan (1737-1812), Oka Yugaku (1762-1833), and Ohara Toya (1771-1840). Although the Morokoshi Meisho Zue was issued with the imprints of at least thirteen different publishers in the cities of Kyoto, Edo, Byo, and Osaka, very few sets seem to have survived. This informative work illustrates scenes from Chinese history and legend, as well as topographical views, palaces, and archaeological and sacred sites. The work… Read More

1933. ALFIERI, Dino and Luigi FREDDI. Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista. 263 pp., with hundreds of illustrations, including some color plates and a facsimile reproduction of an inscription by Mussolini as a frontispiece. 4to, 240 x 168 mm., bound in original cloth-backed illustrated boards. Rome: Partito Nazionale Fascista, 1933. The book commemorates the tenth anniversary of the Facist revolution, and is a typical example of their propaganda. The profusely illustrated text provides one of the best contemporary surveys of Fascist art, architecture and design. An immaculate copy of a book rarely found thus.

1889. NAKAMURA, Gyokushu. Moyo Bijutsu Binran. 50 plates on 25 leaves. 8vo, 178 x 110 mm., publisher's wrappers in a new chitsu case. Mie: Yamanaka, Heisuke, 1889. A charming little book, in which the bottom third of each of the 50 plates depicts a kimono, and the top third is divided in two parts, with each showing a design. Slight soiling, but overall fine. It would seem to be unrecorded and not listed on OCLC.

1931. ERNST, Max. Mr. Knife and Miss Fork. Text by René Crevel, translated by Kay Boyle. With 19 photograms of frottages by Max Ernst. 8vo., bound in the original full black cloth, elaborately gilt and embossed designed by Ernst on covers with additional hand-painting. In an elegant half morocco box by Mercher. Paris: The Black Sun Press, 1931. A celebrated and rare surrealist collaboration. This is one of the special 50 copies on Hollande paper. The frontispiece is signed at the bottom by Max Ernst and the half-title signed by Crevel. For these special copies the front cover of the binding has been hand painted and the rear cover has been gilt. The nineteen photograms illustrating the book were produced from Max Ernst's frottages, created by rubbing translucent paper on top of a textured surface/image. Using this "impression" on the special paper, Ernst then shot light through the thin paper onto photosensitive paper underneath, creating a type of… Read More