Epilonian Books

Rare, out-of-print & unusual books · Since 1997

Catalog notes

Description

George Braziller, Published 1976. Hardcover, 91 pp.; 22 cm; First Printing (stated); reproduces the twelve leaves of the album, each painting facing its poem in Tao-chi's calligraphy, set within brocade-pattern borders, with red seals printed in color; map of Tao-chi's travels. Design by Peter Oldenburg; map by Joseph Ascherl.

Condition & notes

In Very Good condition in publisher's illustrated slipcase, no dust jacket as issued. Brown cloth boards with mounted calligraphic title label on front and gilt lettering on spine; mild shelf and edge wear and a hint of fading to spine. Gold and black brocade-pattern endpapers. Binding tight. Pages clean and unmarked. Slipcase printed with calligraphy and red English titling on front and a leaf from the album on rear; some nicking and tearing to paper along edges and at head and foot of spine, mild shelf and edge wear, a faint diagonal scuff to front panel, and fading along spine and all edges. Twelve-leaf album of poems and paintings by Tao-chi (Shitao, 1641-ca. 1710), leading painter of the Individualist school of the early Ch'ing period, with introduction, leaf-by-leaf commentaries, and translations by Princeton art historian Wen Fong (1930-2018). Includes the album's colophon by Tomioka Tessai (1837-1924) transcribing a commentary by Cheng Hsieh. The calligraphic title on the slipcase reproduces the inscription on the album's wooden box by the Japanese collector Kuwana Tetsujo, who owned the album around 1900; the cartouche on the cover is also in his hand. Contents: Introduction: Mountains and Rivers Remain; Commentaries; Poems and Paintings; Colophon; Notes.