Michener, James A. ; Lane, Richard [Notes]

Japanese Prints [Tuttle Fine Press] [Silk Inset Binding] [Tipped-Plates]

Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1959. .

A lavish, large-format masterwork of book production that remains the preeminent English-language survey of the Ukiyo-e tradition.

James Michener—renowned novelist and a world-class collector of Asian art—collaborated with scholar Richard Lane and the Honolulu Academy of Arts to produce this tactile celebration of Japanese woodblock printing. The volume is famously elaborate, featuring a silk geisha-patterned panel and over fifty tipped-in color plates, ensuring it serves as both a scholarly reference and a work of art in its own right.

KEY FEATURES:
+++ Visuals: 257 plates in total, including 55 meticulously tipped-in color plates; silk ribbon marker. +++ Binding: Brown cloth with gilt spine titles and a recessed, patterned red silk panel on the front board depicting a geisha.
+++ Content: A chronological survey from the 'Primitives' and the golden age of Ukiyo-e to the 20th-century 'Sosaku Hanga' (Creative Print) movement.
+++ Imprint: Charles E. Tuttle Company, a publisher synonymous with the highest standards of Japanese-American book design.
+++ Specs: Folio (12.5 inches tall) / 287 pages / Housed in the original publisher’s decorated slipcase. 
+++ Edition: Fourth Printing - 1963

CONDITION: Fine / Fine. 
+++ The Book: An exceptional, gift-quality copy. The bindings are tight, square, and flawless; the silk panel is vibrant and free of pulls or fading. Internally pristine with no markings. 
+++ The Jacket & Slipcase: The dust jacket is crisp and bright. The publisher’s slipcase is structurally sound, showing only the mildest, uniform age-toning characteristic of the paper stock.

SCHOLARLY FEATURES
+++ The Honolulu Connection: The work was produced in cooperation with the Honolulu Academy of Arts, utilizing their world-renowned Spalding Collection of Japanese prints. 
+++ Curatorial Precision: Unlike broader surveys, Michener provides a 'collector's eye' narrative, while Richard Lane’s technical notes offer the rigorous bibliographical data required by serious connoisseurs. 
+++ Technological Achievement: This edition is celebrated for its high-fidelity color reproduction, specifically the use of tipped-in plates which allow for a depth of color and texture that standard offset printing cannot replicate.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE ---
James A. Michener’s passion for Japanese prints was more than a hobby; it was a crusade to bring the genius of the 'Early Masters' to a Western audience. Japanese Prints matters because it was published during a period of renewed Western interest in Japanese aesthetics, bridging the gap between historical tradition and the burgeoning modern print movement.

The Charles E. Tuttle Company reached its zenith with this production. By utilizing traditional Japanese bookmaking elements—such as silk insets and hand-tipped plates—they created a physical object that respected the craftsmanship of the woodblock artists it documented. It remains a foundational text for the study of Asian printmaking and a trophy for the fine-press library.

SUBJECTS: Ukiyo-e, Woodblock Printing, Japanese Art History, James A. Michener, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro, Asian Art Collection, Art Monograph, Fine Press, Illustrated Book, Asian Studies.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: Honolulu Academy of Arts Spalding Collection Bibliography.

Item #21098

Price: $175.00