Maggs Bros. Ltd.

The first of Serizawa's self-published books; an illustrated guide to katazome stencil dyeing, for which he was most known. The first edition was printed in an edition of 115 copies in 1936, and owing to the popularity of this title Serizawa reprinted it in a smaller edition of 50 copies in 1939. The format and stencils are the same, but the binding uses a navy blue paper stock and the colour palette used for the hand-colouring is more muted than the first edition.

The present work masterfully combines Serizawa’s unique visual sensibilities with his love of traditional crafts. Though he had designed book bindings and contributed illustrations to publications before 1936, it is particularly poignant that he made katazome textiles the subject of his first self-published work.

Serizawa's most known works typically feature bold, graphic shapes that fill the space (be they pictorial or typographic). The present title beautifully shows his earlier artistic style, which is far more sparse in its composition. In the book Serizawa celebrates the craft of stencil-dyed textiles with stencil-printed illustrations, both of which he achieved to an exceptional standard.

Following this work, Serizawa continued to produce books that celebrated traditional Japanese crafts. In 2023, the Keisuke Serizawa Museum in Shizuoka (where he was born) celebrated his life as a book-maker with an exhibition of 20 out of the 50 books he produced. The present title featured prominently, as a highlight of his bibliography.

In the case of the present copy, a later owner has wonderfully protected the book in a stencil-dyed indigo cloth covered case, an entirely appropriate pairing.

Very rare. No copies of this edition in OCLC.