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Illustrated handscroll on paper with scenes of the Great Meiwa Fire of 1772 by MEIWA FIRE SCROLL

7 to 14 days for delivery

Standard Shipping: $20.00

Details

$13,500.00

( US$)

Seller: Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc.

Title: Illustrated handscroll on paper with scenes of the Great Meiwa Fire of 1772
Author: MEIWA FIRE SCROLL
Seller: Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc. (United States)
Description: Scroll (190 x 3980 mm.), outer front endpaper covered with blue silk, inner endpaper of gold & silver paper, manuscript title label on outside “Meiwa kasai zu” 明和火災図 [“Meiwa Fire illustrated”]. [Japan]: late Edo. Japanese cities have always been plagued by terrible fires. Regarding Edo, “the wooden construction of all of the city and the narrow lanes of commoner quarters made fire a devastating experience, and it came sufficiently frequently to be called ‘the flowers of Edo.’ Fires were no respecters of status and rank, and when driven by winter winds in the dry season they roared through the city.…In the 268 years of Tokugawa rule, the Tosa ‘upper’ yashiki (at ‘Blacksmith Bridge’) suffered eighteen fires, and the Shiba middle residence burned twelve times. Four of these were citywide conflagrations. Merchant areas burned thirty-one times in two centuries, and even the shogun’s castle suffered major damage seven times.”–Jansen, The Making of Modern Japan (Harvard: 2000), p. 151. This wonderfully detailed scroll is a record of the Great Meiwa Fire of 1772 in Edo, one of the three most severe fires of the Edo era, destroying a 30-square-mile section of the city (including an estimated 178 temples and shrines, 127 daimyo residences, 878 non-official residences, 8705 houses of bannermen, and 628 blocks of merchant dwellings). Almost 15,000 people died, and another 4,000 went missing. The fire was deliberately set by a Buddhist priest of the Daien-ji temple on the eastern side of the Meguro River. Because of the regularity of such fires, the city of Edo organized 48 brigades of trained firefighters, with each group having a specific name after the old i ro ha alphabet. Our scroll begins with introductory text, dated and signed “Meiwa Mizunoe tatsu aki / Guyū bō shi / [Tanaka] Totsugen hitsu” 明和壬辰秋 / 愚友某誌 / 訥言筆 [“1772 Autumn / text by anonymous friend / painted by Totsugen”]. Tanaka Totsugen (1767-1823) was a prominent artist, and we believe that our scroll is a copy of Totsugen’s original creation. The text gives details of the origins of the fire, its path, and a summary of the incredible devastation. This remarkable scroll consists of four long panoramic scenes. The first depicts the origins of the fire at the temple. We seeing a priest running from the burning temple, carrying a precious scroll. Adjacent modest thatch roofed homes are on fire, with residents fleeing, carrying their valuables. Next to them is a grand mansion in danger. We see servants removing precious objects, burying some of them in the ground. A kura warehouse is being replastered to protect it. Workers are on the roofs, pouring water, fanning the wind away from the house, and brushing off embers. A fireman is rushing by on horseback, while residents seek relief in ponds. The next scene shows the fire making its way through the city. In the desperate attempts to flee the fire, two palanquins carrying noble people have collided on a bridge, completely blocking the way for others. A samurai is in the water, swimming away, and on land, we see people on fire, collapsing onto the ground. The following two scenes depict the inferno of the fire in vivid oranges and reds. Desperate residents are crossing the river, and all the vegetation is aflame. A samurai is seen committing seppuku in despair, a fireman is carrying a person away from the fire, and all the houses, right up to the waterside, are burning. In fine condition, preserved in a wooden box.

The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, to Headwaters of the Mississippi River, Through Louisiana Territory, and in New Spain, During the Years 1805-6-7 [With a Rare Related Pamphlet Bound In] by Pike, Zebulon M.; Coues, Elliott (Editor)

4 to 14 days for delivery

Standard Shipping: $5.75

Details

$1,750.00

( US$)

Seller: Walkabout Books

Title: The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, to Headwaters of the Mississippi River, Through Louisiana Territory, and in New Spain, During the Years 1805-6-7 [With a Rare Related Pamphlet Bound In]
Author: Pike, Zebulon M.; Coues, Elliott (Editor)
Seller: Walkabout Books (United States)
Condition: Very good
Description: New York: Francis P. Harper, 1895. Hardcover. Very good. Three volumes, limited large paper edition, number 53 of 150 sets printed on handmade paper, illustrated with frontispiece portrait and seven maps (six in pocket at rear of Volume III). Original white cloth spines and paper-covered boards. Edgewear, typical light toning and soiling to spine cloth, internally sound and clean, partially unopened. Unique to this set is the addition of a four-page pamphlet bound in after the title page in Volume I, titled "Report of the Committee Appointed the Twenty Second Ultimo to Inquire into if any, and what Compensation Ought to be Made to Captain Pike and His Companion, for their Services in Exploring the Mississippi River, and in their Expedition to the Sources of the Osage, Arkensaw, and La Plate Rivers, Together with their Tour Through New Spain" (Washington, 1808), a copy of which sold alone at auction in 2021 for $900. Howes (P-373) deems this the "best edition" of Pike's narrative. Jenkins (Basic Texas Books p. 441) praises Coues' "lengthy preliminary material, excellent though harsh critical commentary, [and] extensive annotations.

[Postcard Announcing a Stockholders Meeting for a Proposed African-American Bank in Winston-Salem] by [African Americana]: [North Carolina]

2 to 8 days for delivery

Standard Shipping: $7.70

Details

$250.00

( US$)

Seller: The Joe Fay Company LLC

Title: [Postcard Announcing a Stockholders Meeting for a Proposed African-American Bank in Winston-Salem]
Author: [African Americana]: [North Carolina]
Seller: The Joe Fay Company LLC (United States)
Condition: Very good.
Description: Winston-Salem, N.C.: August 11, 1906. Very good.. Typed one-cent postcard, completed in manuscript. Some creasing and dust-soiling. Possibly a unique survival, this postcard is addressed "To the Stockholders of the Negro Bank" in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in the late-summer of 1906. This "Important Notice" calls for all stockholders to meet on September 4 at the town's Knights of Pythias Hall. The officers of the bank encourage stockholders to "Come and hear the report of the Steering Committee. We have perfected plans whereby the bank may be opened at once. Come and bring what money you can on your stock." The postcard is signed at the bottom by John Blum, secretary, and the treasurer F.M. Kennedy, who have sent it to Rev. J.F. Curry of Winston-Salem "c/o Miss Addie Morris." We could locate little to no information on Kennedy or the recipient, Reverend Curry. The bank's treasurer, F.M. Kennedy was involved in trying to build an early hospital for African Americans and served as the principal of the Slater School some years later, but we could locate no mentions of his involvement in creating an African-American bank in Winston-Salem. In fact, we could locate no evidence that a "Negro Bank" was ever founded in the town; the Mechanics and Farmers Bank was established in Raleigh around this time, but was not apparently affiliated with a similar effort in Winston-Salem. The present postcard remains a curious link to establishing a proposed but perhaps never-realized African-American bank in the Jim Crow South.

Wangechi Mutu: Artist of the Year 2010: My Dirty Little Heaven by MUTU, Wangechi

7 to 10 days for delivery

Standard Shipping: FREE

Details

$225.00

( US$)

Seller: Harper's Books

Title: Wangechi Mutu: Artist of the Year 2010: My Dirty Little Heaven
Author: MUTU, Wangechi
Seller: Harper's Books (United States)
Condition: Near fine in illustrated boards.
Description: Frankfurt am Main: Deutsche Bank / Hatje Cantz, 2010. Near fine in illustrated boards.. First Edition. Quarto. Published on the occasion of an exhibition commemorating Mutu's receipt of the first Artist of the Year award from Deutsche Bank. Fully illustrated in color, with texts published in both English and German.

JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM by ANDERSON, Maxwell

7 to 14 days for delivery

Standard Shipping: $10.99

Details

$150.00

( EU VAT US$0)

Seller: Houle Rare Books & Autographs

Title: JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM
Author: ANDERSON, Maxwell
Seller: Houle Rare Books & Autographs (United States)
Description: WASHINGTON, ANDERSON HOUSE, 1940, 1940. DUST JACKET (UNCLIPPED); ADVANCE REVIEW COPY FIRST EDITION VERY GOOD. F. Hardcover.

Punch Almanack

3 to 10 days for delivery

Standard Shipping: $6.00

Details

$25.00

( EU VAT US$0)

Seller: Ken Lopez Bookseller, ABAA

Title: Punch Almanack
Seller: Ken Lopez Bookseller, ABAA (United States)
Condition: Good
Description: London: Punch. 1915. Pencil notation front cover; spine wear; a good copy. Good.

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