Rare books from Ebattt-books

An extremely important album from the Wolcott family`s travel to Europe, covering their stay in Great Britain August 1865 – March 1866.
Full leather bound (worn) folio (34.5 x 27 cm); 101 leaves; ca. 761 albumen photos and ca. 106 Wood engravings and lithographs; all dipped in. The photos show landscapes, historic buildings, important people and important paintings from visited galleries.
On inside of front cover ex libris of Roger Wolcott`s father Joshua Huntington Wolcott (1804-1891). On fore edge handwritten: "Roger Walcott // Souvenir of travel".
Leather worn; Front hinge broken and loose; fore edge loose; leaves uneven, worn margins; photos in general in fine condition with good contrast.; only few stains; overall, considering age, in good condition.
There is also the famous 1863 portrait of Charles Dickens by Jahn Watkins (see Getty Museum 84.XD.1157.1005).
Many pages have the month and year of the visit on top, starting August 1865 on page 1 and ending with March 1866 on the last page. All… Read More

3rd edition, 1691. Japanes stab binding; title slip on front cover; wood block printed book; 25 x 18.5cm, n.n. title, 20 double sheets (the first one bound in in duplicate), numbered 1, 1 – 19; 18 double page woodblock prints;
Biding shows some wear; inside clean, no stains; no insect damage; the first pages a little fingered; overall in outstandingly good condition.
The book includes black and white wood-block prints of beautiful gardens accompanied by a written description of the specific character of each garden. According to Moronobu's preface, the gardens depicted were not actual gardens but rather gardens imagined by the author. As the first drawings of Japanese gardens done by a professional artist, the book also provides useful information for Japanese garden historians.
One of Moronobu`s most important and most famous works.
There were three editions of this book, all using the same woodblocks. The first edition was published by Kashiwagi Yoichi in 1680. The revised edition of 1681 lacks… Read More

Wood block printed book. 26.3 x 18.5cm, Japanese stab binding; title slip (half missing) on front cover; covers worn; wood block printed book; 25 x 18.5cm, 10 double sheets 1 n.n. 20 – 28; 20 half page woodblock prints by Moronobu. Little fingering; a few folds, a few stains in the margins and small defects; overall, considering age and rarity a very nice specimen.One of the earliest books that were illustrated by Moronobu.Extremely scarce: WorldCat knows only 3 copies worldwide.
Jisan Kachu is a song collection, originally published in 1484 by Sogi (1421-1502), the Waka and Renga master of the Muromachi period. The edition, illustrated by Moronobu is a new, commented edition.
Hishikawa Moronobu is generally accredited as the founder of ukiyo-e. Before his time, the illustrations in printed books were subordinate to the text. He made the illustrations more important, and people bought the books for the sake of the pictures.

Japanese stab binding, (covers worn), title slip (ink written, not original) 11 double sheets, numbered 12 – 22; 1 page text, 10 double page woodblock prints. In each double sheet a strong sheet of Japanese paper was bound in between, to avoid shining through of the next page, a very effective method to optimize the visual effect of the beautiful pictures.
Old, Japanese library seal on front page; a few minor defects, 7 double pages with a small, hardly noticeable insect damage at upper margin (as an example, the worst one, see last photo).
Reference: IWANAMI, "KOKUSHO SO MOKUROKU", number 4290602. Kenji Toda [RYERSON COLLECTION]. DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF JAPANESE AND CHINESE ILLUSTRATED BOOKS IN THE RYERSON LIBRARY OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO. Chicago, 1931: "… the most famous book by Moronobu…"
Extremely rare: WorldCat knows only three specimen of this edition in public libraries.
Hishikawa Moronobu is generally accredited as the founder of ukiyo-e. Before his time, the illustrations in… Read More

Hayashi Denzaemon no Jō hankō, Kyoto, 1660. 8 volumes of 8, bound in 7 volumes. Woodblock print edition on folded double sheets. Japanese stich binding. Handwritten title slips on front covers. 26.5 x 19 cm. 5 full page woodblock print illustrations in vol. 1. In Chinese, with Japanese reading marks. There is insect damage, use and a brown staining of the lower margins in volume 8 (see photos). The complete work. A very early, Japanese edition of one of the most important books on traditional medicine. This edition is extremely rare. WorldCat list only 3 copies worldwide. All are in the US: San Francisco, Berkeley and Bethesda. Not in the catalogue of the National Diet Library, Tokyo.






Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a branch of traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", and the majority of its treatments as having no logical mechanism of action.
Medicine in traditional China encompassed a range of sometimes competing health and healing… Read More

Ogasawara Tsunenaga, Shosatsu Unshin shu. Volumes 1, 3, 5, 6, 9 10, 11, 12, 13. Each volume c. 25 double leaves. Each volume with the author`s cypher and seal on the last page. No place; each volume dated Genroku 3 (1690; Japanese stich binding with strong paper covers; handwritten title slips; 29 x 20 cm. All volumes show insect damage (not affecting readability) and only very few staining.
Volume 13 with some nice illustrations.
An extremely rare monument of the esoteric school of Samurai education. The essence of the Ogasawara-Ryu school, never meant to become public.
The Ogasawara-ryū is a traditional Japanese system of martial arts and etiquette, formalised and handed down by the Ogasawara clan.
The school was originally developed by Ogasawara Nagakiyo during the Kamakura period (1185–1333). It specialised in horsemanship (bajutsu), archery (kyujutsu), mounted archery (yabusame) and etiquette, with an emphasis on ceremonial and ritual practice. Nagakiyo was the first to be called Ogasawara… Read More

An extremely rare edition of "Th Mencius". Chinese text with Korean translation in Hangul. The Mencius, Vol. 1 and 2 bound together, 39 and 48 double leaves. 10 lines, 17 characters per line. With single fishtail. Folio, ca. 33.5 x 21.8 cm. Undated. Paper and printing indicate 16th – 17th century printing. Asian stich binding (worn); inside slightly worn; few stains; no insect damage.I compared this edition with all editions listed in the National Library of Korea catalogue. It matches with UCI G701:B-00047977613. Yet, the National Library of Korea das not have this book. They only have a microfilm. There are no comments, which edition it is. In the literature on the early Korean editions of The Mencius a 1590, and two early 17th century editions are mentioned. My book is probably one of them.
The Mencius is a collection of conversations, anecdotes, and series of genuine and imagined interviews by the Confucian philosopher, Mencius.[1] The book is one of the Chinese Thirteen Classics, and explores… Read More

A large photo album of 52 leaves, with dipped in photos on each side. There is a total of ca. 394 pictures; 189 original photos (9 aerial photos), 168 official buy photos and postcards, 27 collotypes (from a paper?).
The size of the album is 32 x 41.5 cm.
The photos in this album are unique documents, showing the unvarnished truth of war. An album that should have its place in a museum.
The album was collated by a young German soldier, named Hans Hugo, who was born in Roth, a small Bavarian town near Nuremberg, Germany. Later, he opened a photo studio in Roth, that existed until the 1960ies. Hans Hugo was at war from October 1916 until the end of WWI in 1918.
The photos are from Belgium, France and the Baltics. There are some exciting, outstandingly rare, large original air reconnaissance, serial Photos. The largest of them, showing a battle field near Riga, measures 25 x 47.8 cm. These photos are original contact prints that were used in the general staff for the planning of battels. They have an… Read More

Giovanni Cinelli Calvoli, Della biblioteca volante di Gio. Cinelli Caluoli patrizio fiorentino, e forliuese Accadem. Gelato &c. Scanzia 15. Consagrata al merito singolariss. del ... Lettore F. Cammillo Landi fiorentino agostiniano ..., In Padova, M.DCCIII [1703], Eredi Frambotto. [8], 63 pages.
Contemporary binding with marbled paper covers.
Paper untrimmed; paper clean and un-toned; in very good state.
An old handwritten description of the rarity of the book on inside of front cover.
This book is one of the rarest and most curios Italian books. One of the things, that sell only once in a century.
In Calvili`s biography it is mentioned, that due to a lot of printing errors, Cinelli Calvoli gave the order to destroy all copies of the edition. Yet, a few of them had been sent to people, who had participated in the work. In the biography it is stated, that 5 copies survived. On the inside of the front cover an old hand states, that only three copies survived. I found only one further copy to exist: The… Read More

Shizhuzhai Shuhuapu , no place (Japan), no date (probably 2nd half of 19th century); 6 of 8 volumes, thick paper covers with cover slips; cover of 1 volume with a small defect at lower left margin, the others are OK; circa 135 double page woodblock prints; 27.5 x 15.5 cm.
Printed on thin Chinese paper.
1. Vol: circa 19 double page woodblock prints and many calligraphies, 2 woodblocks with some brown staining from colors on opposite.
2. Vol: circa 20 double page woodblock prints and many calligraphies, 2 woodblocks with some brown staining from colors on opposite, 2 woodblocks with a brown stain (circa 3 cm).
3. Vol: circa 17 double page woodblock prints and many calligraphies; all woodblocks fine.
4. Vol: circa 38 double page woodblock prints; all woodblocks fine.
5. Vol: circa 18 double page woodblock prints and many calligraphies; all woodblocks fine.
6. Vol: circa 23 double page woodblock prints and many calligraphies; all woodblocks fine.
Japanese, 19. century Hishiya Magobei version of the… Read More

Leporello bound album; silk covers; inside of covers decorated with gold flitters; in original wooden box, inscribed and sealed by Seisetsu Seki.
12 paintings and 12 paired calligraphies. 2 double page calligraphies at beginning and at the end. Each painting with one or more of Seisetsu Seki`s seals. A large number of Seisetsu Seki`s seals were used throughout the album.
A unique masterwork by Seisetsu Seki. I have seen no comparable work by Seisetsu Seki.
Seki Seisetsu, 精拙 関 (1877 - 1945), was born on 18 January 1877 in Hyogo Prefecture. As a baby, he was given to Seki Soshun, a Zen priest of Tenrin-ji (temple) in a nearby village. Soshun raised him, and his entire life, until his death, a few months after the end of WWII, Seisetsu remained a Zen monk. When he was 30 he received his inka shômei (= formal acknowledgement of a student's completion of his Zen training). In 1922, when he was 45, he became head (Kanchô) of Tenryû-ji; next to his new duties he also found time for calligraphy and… Read More

Two volumes bound together; 12 nn, 24 numbered, 56 numbered, 1 nn pages; [Kyoto] 柳枝軒, Horeki 9 (1759). Binding is worn; some worming (see photos). Title slip is missing.
Volume 1: 和歌藻塩草 / Waka moshiogusa, 5 not numbered pages, 　12 number leaves (24 pages) with poems by Hahuin.
Volume 2: 畫讃搖艫船 / Gasan yōrosen, 1 not numbered leave (2 pages), 28 numbered leaves (56 pages) with 55 full pages woodblock illustratuin, 1 not numbered page.
This is one of the most remarkable and most rare works of Zen literature. Jack Hillier (The Art of the Japanese book) did not know this book. There exist only two more known copies of this book. One is at in the US at Stanford University Libraries and a second one is in Japan at Tohoku Universität Kano(東北大狩野).
Hakuin Ekaku (白隠 慧鶴, January 19, 1686 – January 18, 1769) was one of the most influential figures in Japanese Zen Buddhism. He is regarded as the reviver of the Rinzai school from a moribund period of stagnation,… Read More

A series playing cards made by Stefano della Bella for the young Prince Louis 14. The complete series of 39 cards, without the title (which is no card, it is text only). Incomplete series of later impressions are seen from time to time on the art market. Even those are highly sought after and very expensive.
Here in the outstandingly rare 2nd state. The last plate (DV649), displaying Louis 14 was omitted from the series after Lous` marriage in 1660 (see last photo). Therefore, series with DV649 are life time impressions.
The state II impressions of this series belong to Della Bella`s rarest works. There are no auction result for state II impressions for the last 30 years.
Ca. 8.8 x 5.5 cm each; some cards with small margins around platemark, some do not have margins at all sides, some with no visible platemarks; mounted with paper strips on cardboard; in fine condition.
A museum quality item.
Literature: De Vesme 649-687 II/IV.

8°, 20 x 14 cm. Mid-19th century cardboard binding.
41 nn leaves; there exist leaves aiii – a8; b1-b8; c1-c8; d1-d2; d6-d8 (?); e1-e8; f2-f7;
Missing are: a1, a2, d3 – d5 (?), f1, f7 and an unknown number of following leaves.
Numerous old ink notes; leaves are numbered recto at upper right; water stained throughout.
As the imprint is missing, an exact dating is difficult. The initials were used by Rosembach from ca. 1493. The initials were also used in the Missal of 1499 (M24774 Missale Tarraconense. 26.VI.1499.°). The woodblocks are still unworn in our Donatus melior, therefore, the impression was not made very much later.
Printed with Joan Rosembach`s types 1, 7 and 2. There are aberrant majuscules as Rosembach used in prints he made in Perpignan. The state of the type in this Donatus is the same as in the preface to Mancinelli's "Carmen de figuris" (according to Norton this is the Spica edition, p. 233a). An even better example is the "Vocabulario" of 1502.
Summary: This print has not been… Read More

Woodblock printed on gampi paper. 1010 cm x 7.3 cm; printed from 16 blocks (size of blocks: 68.3 x 6.1 cm). Backed with washi paper (19th – 20th century). Some insect damage, specifically at the end. At the beginning, there is a gilted fabric strip with a former owner`s name and his cipher: 大阿闍梨, 行遍, 法印, Daiajari, Gyohen, Hoin. Daiajari means "Great teacher", a title given to abbots of temples of the Shingon sect of esoteric Buddhism.
Gyohen is the name of the owner.
Hoin is the highest Buddhist rank.
Only one Daiajari, Gyohen, Hoin can be traced: Daiajari, Gyohen, Hoin (1181-1264), who was one of the four chief priests of To-ji Temple, Kyoto. He did remarkable work during the mid-Kamakura period. He received the title Hoin in 1250. Therefore, the inscription can be dated between 1250 and 1264.
In the former archives of the To-ji Temple, called Hyakugo Archives, now located in the Kyoto Institute, Library and Archives, there is a letter by Gyohen with a very similar cipher, dated… Read More