First edition. 22 washi paper samples, including woven shifu cloth. 4to. Original cream paper covered boards, red title slip with black lacquered titling, original dust jacket, front free end papers fragile, slightly discoloured at top and bottom of boards, internally fine, overall a very good copy. [6], 22, 36, [2]pp. Np, but Tokyo, 'Kogei' Henshushitsu, 1943.
The great Mingei Movement theorist Yanagi Soetsu's reflections on Japanese handmade papers, beautifully produced with high quality washi.
This book includes a famous essay by Yanagi on the beauty of Japanese paper, which was later reproduced in an anthology of famous essays on the subject of washi paper (Nihon no mei zuihitsu 68: kami. Sakuhinsha, 1988). In this essay he writes with his usual poeticism, "Good paper invites good dreams" (Yoki kami wa yoki yume wo sasou).
It is a remarkable book to have been produced in 1943. Despite the context of WWII, no compromises were made on quality. The book is printed on fine washi paper that would have been scarce at the time; the type is set elegantly in letterpress, with small woodblock printed vignettes after the essays; and the samples themselves are of the highest quality. The final sample in the book is particularly eye-catching – a lovely brown paper painted with lacquer by an artisan named Suzuki Kin'o.
Rare. Only 1 copy in OCLC (National Library of Australia).
