World Food Books

Good Vibration
Photographs by Tetsuji Shimizu

1981, Japanese
Softcover (w. vinyl dust jacket + pin-up), unpaginated, 28 x 21 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Byakuya Shobo / Tokyo

$280.00 - In stock -

(more...)

(...less)

"Bite me. Hate me. Bine me. Fuck me.
Please whip me more strong. One, sir. Two, sir. Three, sir. Hmm ah ha...."
—from the back cover.

Seldom seen, remarkable 1981 Japanese photo book by little known Japanese photographer Tetsuji Shimizu — an immersive exploration of the gay scene in San Francisco in 1980, brilliantly designed by Teruhiko Yumura (King Terri, Terrible Terri, etc.)! Rare even in Japan.

Published by Byakuya Shobo, this glossy, vinyl jacket-bound photo book is similar in format to Seiji Kurata's "Flash Up," published around the same time. While visiting New York, Shimizu was astounded by the sights of Christopher Street, the epicenter of LGBT culture. He traveled to the West Coast through word of mouth and immersed himself in the gay culture there, capturing the night-life of Castro and Folsom Streets with his camera — the leather daddies, the bondage dungeons, the bars, and back at the apartments. The impact of the images was so great that it inspired Shimizu to become a photographer. This is such a unique book that Nobuyoshi Araki said, "As I looked through this photobook, I wanted to become a subject myself."

The book also includes a fold-out pin-up, a chapter of intimate black and white close-up erotic scenes, polaroids and Kodachrome slide photo albums documenting the daily lives of friends in the SF scene — the boyfriends, the queens, the bears, fetish shops, sex toys, poppers and wardrobes, a chapter of reproductions of sex toy catalogues illustrated by the great San Francisco illustrator Rex, plus wild erotic artworks from Martin/Hottman/Teruhiko Yumura, master of the punk manga movement and the heta-uma illustration aesthetic.

Very Good copy in original publishers vinyl jacket. As common with old Japanese books preserved in these original plastic dust jackets, they shrink with age and here it has caused the back cover to partially crease.

File under: Teruhiko Yumura Tetsuji Shimizu Rex Byakuya Shobo / Tokyo LGBTQ+ Out-of-print / Rare Japanese Photography Photography Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Counterculture Fetishism / BDSM

Sibylle Ruppert
Dark Light on White Shadow

2026, English / German
Hardcover (clothbound), 304 pages, 31 x 25 cm
Published by Distanz / Berlin Kunsthalle Gießen / Gießen

$110.00 - In stock -

(more...)

(...less)

Grotesque and Somber. Dark Light on White Shadow is a retrospective of the largely unpublished oeuvre of Sibylle Ruppert, whose hyperrealistic works were inspired by Marquis de Sade and Georges Bataille.

Edited by Nadia Ismail / Kunsthalle Gießen and Paul J. Walter / Estate Sibylle Ruppert

Sibylle Ruppert (b. Frankfurt/Main, 1942; d. Paris, 2011) turned childhood fears and wartime experiences into art. Born the night of the first massive bombing of Frankfurt Main, she spent her early years between nursery and improvised air-raid shelter. Ruppert's richly detailed drawings, paintings, and collages investigate her traumas and the rifts within us they leave behind. Her works reveal a visual language in which bodies menace one another and fuse to produce grotesque creatures. Drawing inspiration from writers like Georges Bataille, Comte de Lautréamont, and Marquis de Sade as well as the artists Francis Bacon and HR Giger, Rupert created a prolific surreal erotic and dystopian imagery — a singular oeuvre in hues of brown and gray. In 2010, a year before her death, the artist was the subject of a retrospective at the HR Giger Museum in Gruyeres.

The book Dark Light on White Shadow pays fresh homage to her oeuvre, which was displayed at Kunsthalle Gießen in 2023. With essays by Kate Brown, Nadia Ismail, Vera Kattermann, Annekathrin Kohout, and Paul J. Walter.

File under: Sibylle Ruppert H. R. Giger Nadia Ismail Paul J. Walter Comte de Lautreamont Georges Bataille Marquis de Sade Distanz / Berlin Kunsthalle Gießen / Gießen Drawing Art Painting Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Ero Guro / Erotic / Grotesque Eros Fetishism / BDSM

Bruno Munari
Design As Art

1987, English
Hardcover (w. dust jacket), 140 pages, 22.9 x 27.9 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by The MIT Press / Massachusetts

$140.00 - In stock -

(more...)

(...less)

First english edition of this long out-of-print major hardcover monograph on Bruno Munari. Published by The MIT Press in 1987, this was the first comprehensive book on his work, and was itself designed by Munari! Clothbound, in original dust-jacket, protected in plastic sleeve.

Foreward by Andrea Branzi.

One of the last surviving members of the futurist generation, Bruno Munari has been the enfant terrible of Italian art and design for most of this century. Munari was born in 1907 in Milan and it was against the active background of futurism that his artistic experiments developed, but his mechanical fantasies, practical inventions, and didactic writings continue to be enjoyed by a public that has no memory of Balla, Prampolini, and Marinetti.

Munari's 40-odd books, ranging from futurist manifestoes to design manuals to children's books, have been widely read in many languages. But this book, itself designed by Munari, is the first comprehensive account of his total achievement. Here are the Unreadable Books (that told stories through the possibilities of typography, papermaking, and binding), Traveling Sculptures, Fossils of the Year 2000, Theoretical Reconstruction of Imaginary Objects, Original Xerographies, Negative Positives, and the famous Useless Machines of the 1930s (constructions for wagging the tails of lazy dogs, predicting dawn, making sobs sound musical) as well as numerous other works, some published for the first time.

The hundreds of illustrations, many in full color, recreate Munari's relentless inventiveness, his love of irony, chance and humor, his intensely experimental orientation and constantly fresh approach to new technologies and materials.

Aldo Tanchis lives in Milan where he is currently collaborating with the advertising agency Pirella Göttsche. He is the author of The Anomalous Art of Bruno Munari.

VG in VG dust jacket preserved under Mylar wrap.

File under: Andrea Branzi Bruno Munari Aldo Tanchis The MIT Press / Massachusetts Art Graphic Design / Typography Furniture Out-of-print / Rare Sculpture / Installation Ceramics / Glass Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Architecture / Interior

Bruno and His Friend Chimp
Written & Illustrated by Susan Gladstone

1944, English
Hardcover (clothbound w. dust jacket), 32 pages, 21.5 x 14.8 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / good
Published by J.M. Dent & Sons / London

$40.00 - Out of stock

(more...)

(...less)

Lovely first edition 1944 children's book written and illustrated by Susan Gladstone and published in London by J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd. "Susan Gladstone is not a grown-up artist, though you might think so from her drawings. She is thirteen now, the year this book is first published, and was twelve when she wrote and illustrated it. From the time she was a baby Susan has scribbled on paper the pictures that came into her head, and when she was five some of her drawings were sent up to the Children's Exhibition of the Royal Drawing Society in London and awarded a Gold Star. After that Susan belonged to the Children's Red Book Circle of the R.D.S., and had helpful criticisms from time to time, when the drawings were returned. Her father would read aloud to her what the critic wrote. She has been awarded the Bronze Star certificate since the war. Susan always draws with her left hand. She never copies anything, but when illustrating this story made the pictures up out of her head. For instance, in the picture of the old market place she did not even draw it in pencil first. As her father says—"It went slap down in Indian ink in no time!"

"Bruno lived in a cosy cottage with his father and mother. Anybody would have liked to live there too, when they see the picture of it. One day he followed his father out into the woods, strictly against orders, and this is the story of the adventures that befell him, and of how he met Chimp who became his friend. Then the lovely happy ending and joyful homecoming."

An animal self–liberation classic.

Very Good copy preserved in the seldom seen original dust jacket. DJ is Average with tanning, marking and chipping to edges.

File under: Susan Gladstone Susan Gladstone J.M. Dent & Sons / London Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Out-of-print / Rare Art Brut / Folk / Visionary / Fantastic

Troll I Norge
by Theodor Kittelsen

1974, Norwegian/English/French/German
Softcover (w. dust jacket), 56 pages, 24.5 x 18.5 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / good

$45.00 - In stock -

(more...)

(...less)

Multi–lingual 1974 edition of this classic collection of Theodor Kittelsen's (1857–1914) Troll drawings, with introductory text in Norwegian/English/French/German by Odd Hølaas inspired by Kittelsen's famous illustrations. Kittelsen became one of Norway's most popular artists for his nature paintings, as well as for his illustrations of fairy tales and legends, especially of trolls, a national phenomenon in Norway - the terror of the woods, the divinity of the forests. Illustrated tipped–in plate to green title dust jacket over cream boards.

Good copy with tanning to dust jacket, light wear to edges, foxing.

File under: Theodor Kittelsen Odd Hølaas Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Weird / Speculative / Science Fiction Occult / Esoterica Out-of-print / Rare

Shūji Terayama
Kamen Gaho

1991, Japanese
Softcover (w. dust jacket + obi), 128 pages, 26 x 18.5 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Heibonsha / Tokyo

$60.00 - In stock -

(more...)

(...less)

Wonderful photo-book chronology of the world of Shūji Terayama (1935—1983) and his experimental theatre troupe Tenjō Sajiki (with Kujō Kyōko, Yutaka Higashi, Tadanori Yokoo, Fumiko Takagi, ...), a major phenomenon on the Japanese Angura ("underground") theater scene of the 1960s and 70s. Terayama's activities encompass a who's-who of the Japanese avant-garde arts and literature of the time. This book visually documents it all; the filmography, performances, installations, happenings, exhibitions, posters, publications, and all else that resonated from Japan’s most revered and provocative avant-garde film-maker and his collaborators. Profusely illustrated with hundreds of illustrations in colour, duo and b/w with Japanese commentary, biographies and chronology. A wonderful, visually mind-blowing reference for anyone interested in the work of Terayama, Tenjō Sajiki, Surrealist performance, or Japanese avant-garde underground (Angura) theatre.

Shūji Terayama (1935 — 1983) was a Japanese avant-garde poet, dramatist, writer, film director, and photographer. His works range from radio drama, experimental television, underground (Angura) theatre, countercultural essays, to Japanese New Wave and "expanded" cinema. In 1967 Terayama founded Tenjō Sajiki with Kujō Kyōko, Yutaka Higashi, Tadanori Yokoo, and Fumiko Takagi, a Japanese experimental theater troupe. A major phenomenon on the Japanese Angura ("underground") theater scene, the group produced a number of stage works marked by experimentalism, folklore influences, social provocation, grotesque eroticism and the flamboyant fantasy characteristic of Terayama's oeuvre. Terayama is considered one of the most productive and provocative creative artists to come out of Japan, with a wide-reaching influence on many artists from the 1970s onward.

Very Good—Near Fine (w/o obi — image just a sample)

File under: Tenjō Sajiki Kujō Kyōko Yutaka Higashi Tadanori Yokoo Fumiko Takagi Shūji Terayama Akira Uno Aquirax Uno akira Heibonsha / Tokyo Art Performance / Dance / Theater Ero Guro / Erotic / Grotesque Eros Surrealism Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Sound / Music Transgressive / Visceral / Abject

Le Sang et La Rose No. 2, 1969

1969, Japanese / French
Softcover, 228 pages, 23 x 18 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Tensei Shuppan / Tokyo

$110.00 - Out of stock

(more...)

(...less)

Revue de Érotologie, Homosexualité, Sadisme, Masochisme, Fétischisme, Narcissime, Infantilisme, Magie, Occultisme, Humour Noir, Complexe Psychisme. What more could you ask for? Le Sang Et La Rose is a masterpiece of the Japanese underground. A groundbreaking, powerful, yet short-lived Japanese arts and literary journal published in Tokyo from late 1968—mid 1969, published in a total of four luxurious, now collectible, volumes. The first three issues were edited by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa (1928—1987), a legendary, controversial Japanese novelist, art critic, translator of French writers such as Jean Cocteau, Georges Bataille and Marquis de Sade, and specialist in medieval demonology. The importance of this magazine to the Japanese avant-garde and radical culture cannot be overstated.

Born from a period of political, social and economical turmoil in Japan, Le Sang Et La Rose may be understood as a emblematic distillation and product of the late ‘60s student rebellion and anti-authoritarian underground culture. Wilfully politically subversive, the publication drew upon a vast range of perspectives - from criticism, literature, obscure esoteric sciences, art, eroticism, radical avant-garde and a historical-rooted Japanese counterculture; featuring literature, theory, art, photography, illustration and graphic design from the most innovative and subversive Japanese and international (predominately French) artists, authors and critics, spanning the themes above. As instigator, Tatsuhiko Shibusawa in effect formulated the magazine’s design to be a spiritual and political operative that would weaponize its readers minds. This stance was made clear in the 1969 manifesto text — "My 1969" — in which Shibusawa discuss' how he perceived the ‘60s as being the age of ideas, ideas as weapons, and outlined a distain towards systems of power, moralism, State oppression, sanitised and harmless liberalism, dogmatic academic sciences and an outright distrust for ideological, progressive literary scholars who advocate "freedom of expression", but have never caused friction with the judicial power. The magazine sketched out an aim to push towards a new kind of personal freedom, intellect, autonomy and moral compass. Here, the concept of ‘erotism’ — as discussed by Georges Bataille in his highly influential 1957 book "Erotism: Death and Sensuality" — acts as a critical force. 

Issue no. 2 includes photographic features by Yasuhiro Yoshioka and Yoshihiro Tatsuki, the artwork of French decorator of department store mannequins and surrealist Sunday painter Clovis Trouille, Venus in Furs erotic photo shoot by Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Yokoo Tadanori, Hans Bellmer, Leonor Fini, Alberto Martini, Félicien Rops, Rene Magritte, an incredible feature "Machine for Murder" with art by Hiroshi Nakamura, Tomi Ungerer, Koichi Tanigawa, Osamu Tsukasa, Tatsuo Ikeda, Marcel Duchamp, Seiichi Horiuchi, and others, an article on the erotica of Ukiyo-e with a fold-out colour three panel poster, the fully illustrated museum supplement on Demonology by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa with artworks throughout history, texts by Apollinaire, Burroughs, Mutsuo Takahashi, articles on laws pertaining to homosexuality, Kama Sutra, shoe fetishism, and much more.

Tatsuhiko Shibusawa (1928—1987), was a well-known and controversial Japanese novelist, art critic, and translator of French writers such as Jean Cocteau, Georges Bataille and Marquis de Sade. In 1960 he and his publisher, Kyōji Ishii, were trialled for public obscenity over the publishing of Shibusawa's translation of de Sade's Juliette into the Japanese language. What was to be known as the "Sade Trial" took 9 years and although many of Japan's leading authors testified for the defense, in 1969 the Japanese Supreme Court ruled them guilty and charged. This did not deter Shibusawa, whose essays on black magic, demonology and eroticism were popular reading in Japan, and in 1981 he was awarded the 9th Izumi Kyoka Literature Prize.

Good-Very Good copy. Light general tanning/wear. Some rippling to back cover.

File under: Yoshihiro Tatsuki Clovis Trouille Tadanori Yokoo Yasuhiro Yoshioka Yokoo Tadanori Hans Bellmer Leonor Fini Alberto Martini Félicien Rops Rene Magritte Hiroshi Nakamura Tomi Ungerer Koichi Tanigawa Osamu Tsukasa Tatsuo Ikeda Marcel Duchamp Seiichi Horiuchi Yasuhiro Ishimoto Guillaume Apollinaire William S. Burroughs Georges Bataille Mutsuo Takahashi Tatsuhiko Shibusawa Tensei Shuppan / Tokyo Periodicals Eros LGBTQ+ Art Surrealism Counterculture Japanese Photography Photography Out-of-print / Rare Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Theory / Essay Occult / Esoterica Fetishism / BDSM Ero Guro / Erotic / Grotesque Philosophy Fiction / Poetry Transgressive / Visceral / Abject Symbolism / Decadence / Fin de siècle Ancient / Medieval / Gothic

Le Sang et La Rose No. 3, 1969

1969, Japanese / French
Softcover, 232 pages, 23 x 18 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Tensei Shuppan / Tokyo

$110.00 - In stock -

(more...)

(...less)

Revue de Érotologie, Homosexualité, Sadisme, Masochisme, Fétischisme, Narcissime, Infantilisme, Magie, Occultisme, Humour Noir, Complexe Psychisme. What more could you ask for? Le Sang Et La Rose is a masterpiece of the Japanese underground. A groundbreaking, powerful, yet short-lived Japanese arts and literary journal published in Tokyo from late 1968—mid 1969, published in a total of four luxurious, now collectible, volumes. The first three issues were edited by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa (1928—1987), a legendary, controversial Japanese novelist, art critic, translator of French writers such as Jean Cocteau, Georges Bataille and Marquis de Sade, and specialist in medieval demonology. The importance of this magazine to the Japanese avant-garde and radical culture cannot be overstated.

Born from a period of political, social and economical turmoil in Japan, Le Sang Et La Rose may be understood as a emblematic distillation and product of the late ‘60s student rebellion and anti-authoritarian underground culture. Wilfully politically subversive, the publication drew upon a vast range of perspectives - from criticism, literature, obscure esoteric sciences, art, eroticism, radical avant-garde and a historical-rooted Japanese counterculture; featuring literature, theory, art, photography, illustration and graphic design from the most innovative and subversive Japanese and international (predominately French) artists, authors and critics, spanning the themes above. As instigator, Tatsuhiko Shibusawa in effect formulated the magazine’s design to be a spiritual and political operative that would weaponize its readers minds. This stance was made clear in the 1969 manifesto text — "My 1969" — in which Shibusawa discuss' how he perceived the ‘60s as being the age of ideas, ideas as weapons, and outlined a distain towards systems of power, moralism, State oppression, sanitised and harmless liberalism, dogmatic academic sciences and an outright distrust for ideological, progressive literary scholars who advocate "freedom of expression", but have never caused friction with the judicial power. The magazine sketched out an aim to push towards a new kind of personal freedom, intellect, autonomy and moral compass. Here, the concept of ‘erotism’ — as discussed by Georges Bataille in his highly influential 1957 book "Erotism: Death and Sensuality" — acts as a critical force. 

Issue no. 3 (with cover by Bronzino, 1554) includes full-colour photographic feature by Kishin Shinoyama ("Virgin In Uniform" featuring models/artists Angela Asaoka, Akaji Maro, Yoko Ashikawa) and beautiful Shomei Tomatsu photo feature ("Scoptophilia"), the artwork of the great French cross-dressing painter-photographer Pierre Molinier, texts by Jirō Kawamura, Yumiko Kurahashi, Taruho Inagaki ("Memories of Hemorrhoids or "New Tsurezuregusa"), Akiyuki Nosaka ("Dear Penis, Goodbye"), Minoru Minamihara ("The Mystic Thought of Love in the Case of Jakob Böhme"), Takiji Kobayashi, The Fictitious Garden of Babylon by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, Tsunekazu Murata ("Witch's Ax : Concerning Heresy in Medieval Europe"), translation of Franz Kafka "Metamorphosis" illustrated by Franco Gentilini, recent research on homosexuality by film critic Jin'ichi Uekusa, Kama Sutra, more Gay (Danshoku) Japanese Theater history, Marquise de Blancvilliers by Koji Nakata, and much more.

Tatsuhiko Shibusawa (1928—1987), was a well-known and controversial Japanese novelist, art critic, and translator of French writers such as Jean Cocteau, Georges Bataille and Marquis de Sade. In 1960 he and his publisher, Kyōji Ishii, were trialled for public obscenity over the publishing of Shibusawa's translation of de Sade's Juliette into the Japanese language. What was to be known as the "Sade Trial" took 9 years and although many of Japan's leading authors testified for the defense, in 1969 the Japanese Supreme Court ruled them guilty and charged. This did not deter Shibusawa, whose essays on black magic, demonology and eroticism were popular reading in Japan, and in 1981 he was awarded the 9th Izumi Kyoka Literature Prize.

Very Good copy. Light general tanning/wear.

File under: Kishin Shinoyama Shomei Tomatsu Pierre Molinier Franco Gentilini Yokoo Tadanori Angela Asaoka Akaji Maro Yoko Ashikawa Tatsuhiko Shibusawa Franz Kafka Yukio Mishima Taruho Inagaki Jun’nosuke Yoshiyuki Kôichi Iijima Jûrô Kara Ikuya Kato Minoru Yoshioka Ryûichi Tamura The Marquis de Sade Georges Bataille Andre Pieyre De Mandiargues Jirō Kawamura Yumiko Kurahashi Akiyuki Nosaka Minoru Minamihara Jakob Böhme Takiji Kobayashi Tsunekazu Murata Jin'ichi Uekusa Tensei Shuppan / Tokyo Ero Guro / Erotic / Grotesque Transgressive / Visceral / Abject Eros Fetishism / BDSM Out-of-print / Rare Periodicals Japanese Photography Surrealism Philosophy Theory / Essay Fiction / Poetry Symbolism / Decadence / Fin de siècle Ancient / Medieval / Gothic Art Counterculture Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées LGBTQ+ Occult / Esoterica Photography Sociology / Politics

Le Sang et La Rose No. 1, 1968

1968, Japanese / French
Softcover, 228 pages, 23 x 18 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Tensei Shuppan / Tokyo

$110.00 - Out of stock

(more...)

(...less)

Revue de Érotologie, Homosexualité, Sadisme, Masochisme, Fétischisme, Narcissime, Infantilisme, Magie, Occultisme, Humour Noir, Complexe Psychisme. What more could you ask for? Le Sang Et La Rose is a masterpiece of the Japanese underground. A groundbreaking, powerful, yet short-lived Japanese arts and literary journal published in Tokyo from late 1968—mid 1969, published in a total of four luxurious, now collectible, volumes. The first three issues were edited by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa (1928—1987), a legendary, controversial Japanese novelist, art critic, translator of French writers such as Jean Cocteau, Georges Bataille and Marquis de Sade, and specialist in medieval demonology. The importance of this magazine to the Japanese avant-garde and radical culture cannot be overstated.

Born from a period of political, social and economical turmoil in Japan, Le Sang Et La Rose may be understood as a emblematic distillation and product of the late ‘60s student rebellion and anti-authoritarian underground culture. Wilfully politically subversive, the publication drew upon a vast range of perspectives - from criticism, literature, obscure esoteric sciences, art, eroticism, radical avant-garde and a historical-rooted Japanese counterculture; featuring literature, theory, art, photography, illustration and graphic design from the most innovative and subversive Japanese and international (predominately French) artists, authors and critics, spanning the themes above. As instigator, Tatsuhiko Shibusawa in effect formulated the magazine’s design to be a spiritual and political operative that would weaponize its readers minds. This stance was made clear in the 1969 manifesto text — "My 1969" — in which Shibusawa discuss' how he perceived the ‘60s as being the age of ideas, ideas as weapons, and outlined a distain towards systems of power, moralism, State oppression, sanitised and harmless liberalism, dogmatic academic sciences and an outright distrust for ideological, progressive literary scholars who advocate "freedom of expression", but have never caused friction with the judicial power. The magazine sketched out an aim to push towards a new kind of personal freedom, intellect, autonomy and moral compass. Here, the concept of ‘erotism’ — as discussed by Georges Bataille in his highly influential 1957 book "Erotism: Death and Sensuality" — acts as a critical force. 

Issue no. 1 (1968) sets the scene perfectly, opening with Japanese author Yukio Mishima depicted as Saint Sebastian by photographer Kishin Shinoyama in a pictorial feature "Les Morts Masculines", a photographic homage to Georges Bataille that also features the photography of Eikoh Hosoe, Ikkō Narahara, Masahisa Fukase, and Osamu Hayasaki, with models including Butoh founder Tatsumi Hijikata, actor Akira Mita, author Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, actor Jin Nakayama, playwright Jūrō Kara, and others. Other features include " All Japanese are Perverse" — stories by Japanese writers including Yukio Mishima, Taruho Inagaki, Yutaka Haniya, Shinji Sōya; Henry Miller's letters to Anais Nin; a colour gallery of artwork by Belgian painter Paul Delvaux; articles on Vampire fantasy in the arts (including many original illustrations; Witches (illustrated by James Ensor); Oriental Eros, Ancient Indian poetry; Kama Sutra; female bi-sexuality; the history of gay (Danshoku) theatre in Japan; the full-colour art gallery "Masturbation Machine", featuring avant-garde artists Natsuyuki Nakanishi, Masuo Ikeda, Setsu Nagasawa, Carlos Marchioli, Kuniyoshi Kaneko, Masakazu Horiuchi, Tadanori Yokoo, Koji Suzuki, Tommy Ungerer; the fully illustrated museum supplement "Pain and Pleasure : On Torture" by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa with artworks throughout history; pornographic stories by Guillaume Apollinaire and Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne (who coined the term "Pornographer"); fiction by Pierre Morion (pseudo. André Pieyre de Mandiargues); critic Jin'ichi Uekusa on the controversial writings of Roger Peyrefitte, illustrations by Ernst, Bellmer, Labisse, Fini, Lam, and much more.

Tatsuhiko Shibusawa (1928—1987), was a well-known and controversial Japanese novelist, art critic, and translator of French writers such as Jean Cocteau, Georges Bataille and Marquis de Sade. In 1960 he and his publisher, Kyōji Ishii, were trialled for public obscenity over the publishing of Shibusawa's translation of de Sade's Juliette into the Japanese language. What was to be known as the "Sade Trial" took 9 years and although many of Japan's leading authors testified for the defense, in 1969 the Japanese Supreme Court ruled them guilty and charged. This did not deter Shibusawa, whose essays on black magic, demonology and eroticism were popular reading in Japan, and in 1981 he was awarded the 9th Izumi Kyoka Literature Prize.

Good copy with some spine damage and tanning/wear.

File under: Max Ernst Léonor Fini Felix Labisse Wilfredo Lam Hans Bellmer Paul Delvaux Natsuyuki Nakanishi Masuo Ikeda Setsu Nagasawa Carlos Marchioli Kuniyoshi Kaneko Masakazu Horiuchi Tadanori Yokoo Koji Suzuki Tommy Ungerer Tatsumi Hijikata Tatsuhiko Shibusawa Eikoh Hosoe Ikkō Narahara Masahisa Fukase Osamu Hayasaki Kishin Shinoyama James Ensor Tatsuhiko Shibusawa Jin'ichi Uekusa Roger Peyrefitte Yukio Mishima Taruho Inagaki Yutaka Haniya Shinji Sōya Henry Miller Suehiro Tanemura Guillaume Apollinaire Andre Pieyre De Mandiargues Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne Jūrō Kara Tensei Shuppan / Tokyo Fiction / Poetry Japanese Photography Occult / Esoterica Philosophy Photography Art Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Fetishism / BDSM LGBTQ+ Eros Ero Guro / Erotic / Grotesque Out-of-print / Rare Periodicals Counterculture Surrealism Symbolism / Decadence / Fin de siècle Transgressive / Visceral / Abject Ancient / Medieval / Gothic

Plexus 17
October 1968

1968, French
Softcover, 162 pages, 20 x 17.8 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Planète / Paris

$50.00 - In stock -

(more...)

(...less)

Issue 17 of Plexus, an avant-garde French magazine published in Paris from 1966-1970, created as the companion publication to fantastical realist magazine Planète by prominent figures French journalist and author Louis Pauwels and fantastique fiction author Jacques Sternberg. Born from the ashes of surrealism into it's cultivated counterculture and subtitled "the uninhibited magazine", Plexus blended a psychedelic mix of erotica, fantasy, philosophy, psychedelia, literature, esoterica, filmmaking, science fiction, satirical cartoons and more. Only 37 issues total were published during its short four year run, but it made a big splash, even being prohibited to minors in 1967 after just one year of publication for its “pornographic content.” Each issue featured striking cover artwork by some of the most prominent artists of the period, along with galleries of erotic artworks, historical and contemporary – often seen only in the pages of Plexus.

Plexus, issue 17, October 1968. Cover by Gilles Rimbault. Features a gallery of art by Gilles Rimbault, Didier Moreau, Georges Wolinski, photography by Emil Cadoo, actress Geneviève Grad, Anton LaVey, Emmanuelle Arsan, Yves de Saint-Agnes, Jacques Sternberg, and so much more.

VG copy, light wear/age, small sticker damage to lower cover (sample image only)

File under: Georges Wolinski Gilles Rimbault Didier Moreau Emil Cadoo Geneviève Grad Emmanuelle Arsan Yves de Saint-Agnes Jacques Sternberg Anton LaVey Planète / Paris Periodicals Art Eros Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Photography Counterculture Film / Video Weird / Speculative / Science Fiction Occult / Esoterica Art Brut / Folk / Visionary / Fantastic Drugs / Psychedelia

Plexus 29
November 1969

1969, French
Softcover, 130 pages, 20 x 17.8 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Planète / Paris

$50.00 - In stock -

(more...)

(...less)

Issue 29 of Plexus, an avant-garde French magazine published in Paris from 1966-1970, created as the companion publication to fantastical realist magazine Planète by prominent figures French journalist and author Louis Pauwels and fantastique fiction author Jacques Sternberg. Born from the ashes of surrealism into it's cultivated counterculture and subtitled "the uninhibited magazine", Plexus blended a psychedelic mix of erotica, fantasy, philosophy, psychedelia, literature, esoterica, filmmaking, science fiction, satirical cartoons and more. Only 37 issues total were published during its short four year run, but it made a big splash, even being prohibited to minors in 1967 after just one year of publication for its “pornographic content.” Each issue featured striking cover artwork by some of the most prominent artists of the period, along with galleries of erotic artworks, historical and contemporary – often seen only in the pages of Plexus.

Plexus, issue 28, November 1969. Cover by Jean Coulot. Features a gallery of art by Jean Coulot, Raymond Bertrand, Tiger Tateishi, actress/model Elsa Martinelli, Pieyre de Mandiargues, Emmanuelle Arsan, André Guillois, and article on Hitler illustrated by Gérard Gachet, and so much more.

VG copy, light wear/age, small sticker damage to lower cover (sample image only)

File under: Gérard Gachet Raymond Bertrand Tiger Tateishi Elsa Martinelli Jean Coulot Pieyre de Mandiargues Emmanuelle Arsan André Guillois Planète / Paris Counterculture Out-of-print / Rare Periodicals Eros Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Art Photography Weird / Speculative / Science Fiction Occult / Esoterica Film / Video Drugs / Psychedelia

Plexus 26
July 1969

1969, French
Softcover, 144 pages, 20 x 17.8 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Planète / Paris

$45.00 - In stock -

(more...)

(...less)

Issue 26 of Plexus, an avant-garde French magazine published in Paris from 1966-1970, created as the companion publication to fantastical realist magazine Planète by prominent figures French journalist and author Louis Pauwels and fantastique fiction author Jacques Sternberg. Born from the ashes of surrealism into it's cultivated counterculture and subtitled "the uninhibited magazine", Plexus blended a psychedelic mix of erotica, fantasy, philosophy, psychedelia, literature, esoterica, filmmaking, science fiction, satirical cartoons and more. Only 37 issues total were published during its short four year run, but it made a big splash, even being prohibited to minors in 1967 after just one year of publication for its “pornographic content.” Each issue featured striking cover artwork by some of the most prominent artists of the period, along with galleries of erotic artworks, historical and contemporary – often seen only in the pages of Plexus.

Plexus, issue 26, July 1969. Cover by Roman Cieślewicz. Features a gallery of art by Claudine Wick, Georges Wolinski, an "unprecedented document on homosexuality" an investigation by Pierre Hahn featuring contributions by Roger Peyrefitte and Michel Butor (writers), Claude Dumezil (psychoanalyst), Daniel Guérin (sociologist), Marc Oraison (priest), Roger Bastide (ethno-sociologist), André Baudry (director of "Arcadie"), Daniel Guérin, Jacques Sternberg, Hair, and so much more.

VG copy, light wear/age.

File under: Roman Cieślewicz André Baudry Claudine Wick Georges Wolinski Roger Peyrefitte Michel Butor Claude Dumezil Daniel Guérin Marc Oraison Roger Bastide André BaudryDaniel Guérin Jacques Sternberg Pierre Hahn Planète / Paris Periodicals Out-of-print / Rare Counterculture Art Art Brut / Folk / Visionary / Fantastic Eros Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Photography Film / Video Weird / Speculative / Science Fiction Occult / Esoterica LGBTQ+ Drugs / Psychedelia

Plexus 30
December 1969

1969, French
Softcover, 130 pages, 20 x 17.8 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Planète / Paris

$40.00 - In stock -

(more...)

(...less)

Issue 30 of Plexus, an avant-garde French magazine published in Paris from 1966-1970, created as the companion publication to fantastical realist magazine Planète by prominent figures French journalist and author Louis Pauwels and fantastique fiction author Jacques Sternberg. Born from the ashes of surrealism into it's cultivated counterculture and subtitled "the uninhibited magazine", Plexus blended a psychedelic mix of erotica, fantasy, philosophy, psychedelia, literature, esoterica, filmmaking, science fiction, satirical cartoons and more. Only 37 issues total were published during its short four year run, but it made a big splash, even being prohibited to minors in 1967 after just one year of publication for its “pornographic content.” Each issue featured striking cover artwork by some of the most prominent artists of the period, along with galleries of erotic artworks, historical and contemporary – often seen only in the pages of Plexus.

Plexus, issue 30, December 1969. Cover by Bonneville. Features a gallery of art by Max Savy, the first ever pornography fair in Copenhagen, Contemporary art and the sexual revolution (Niki de Saint Phalle, Mel Ramos, Alina Szapocznikow, Martial Raysse, Roy Lichtenstein, Christo, Tom Wesselmann, Yves Klein, David Hockney, Richard Lindner, Bernard Rancillac, James Rosenquist, Larry Rivers, etc. by Pierre Restany, French author Catherine de Prémonville, Edgar Morin, and so much more.

VG copy, light wear/age.

File under: Catherine de Prémonville Edgar Morin Max Savy Alina Szapocznikow Niki de Saint Phalle Martial Raysse Christo Yves Klein David Hockney Richard Lindner James Rosenquist Larry Rivers Roy Lichtenstein Tom Wesselmann Pierre Restany Jacques Sternberg Catherine de Prémonville Edgar Morin Planète / Paris Periodicals Out-of-print / Rare Eros Counterculture Drugs / Psychedelia Weird / Speculative / Science Fiction Art Brut / Folk / Visionary / Fantastic Art Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Film / Video Photography Occult / Esoterica Philosophy Sociology / Politics Nouveau Réalisme / Zero / Kinetic Pop Art

Plexus 25
June 1969

1969, French
Softcover, 162 pages, 20 x 17.8 cm
Published by Planète / Paris

$55.00 - In stock -

(more...)

(...less)

Issue 25 of Plexus, an avant-garde French magazine published in Paris from 1966-1970, created as the companion publication to fantastical realist magazine Planète by prominent figures French journalist and author Louis Pauwels and fantastique fiction author Jacques Sternberg. Born from the ashes of surrealism into it's cultivated counterculture and subtitled "the uninhibited magazine", Plexus blended a psychedelic mix of erotica, fantasy, philosophy, psychedelia, literature, esoterica, filmmaking, science fiction, satirical cartoons and more. Only 37 issues total were published during its short four year run, but it made a big splash, even being prohibited to minors in 1967 after just one year of publication for its “pornographic content.” Each issue featured striking cover artwork by some of the most prominent artists of the period, along with galleries of erotic artworks, historical and contemporary – often seen only in the pages of Plexus.

Plexus, issue 25, June 1969. Cover by Michel Plaisir. Features a gallery of art by Hans Bellmer, Yves Chaix, Jacques-Armand Cardon, Pierre Bonnard by Pierre Cabanne, erotic photography by Ica Vilander, manifestations of POSSESSION (from voodoo, Macumba, sorcery, to Surrealism, Happenings, Yoga and L.S.D.), Pieyre de Mandiargues, Jacques Sternberg, Michel Bernard, Henri Guillemin, and so much more.

VG copy, light wear/age.

File under: Hans Bellmer Pierre Bonnard Michel Plaisir Ica Vilander Jacques-Armand Cardon Pierre Cabanne Pieyre de Mandiargues Jacques Sternberg Michel Bernard Henri Guillemin Planète / Paris Out-of-print / Rare Periodicals Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Eros Australian Science Fiction / Speculative Fiction Occult / Esoterica Film / Video Photography Art Brut / Folk / Visionary / Fantastic Counterculture Drugs / Psychedelia

Plexus 24
May 1969

1969, French
Softcover, 162 pages, 20 x 17.8 cm
Published by Planète / Paris

$35.00 - In stock -

(more...)

(...less)

Issue 24 of Plexus, an avant-garde French magazine published in Paris from 1966-1970, created as the companion publication to fantastical realist magazine Planète by prominent figures French journalist and author Louis Pauwels and fantastique fiction author Jacques Sternberg. Born from the ashes of surrealism into it's cultivated counterculture and subtitled "the uninhibited magazine", Plexus blended a psychedelic mix of erotica, fantasy, philosophy, psychedelia, literature, esoterica, filmmaking, science fiction, satirical cartoons and more. Only 37 issues total were published during its short four year run, but it made a big splash, even being prohibited to minors in 1967 after just one year of publication for its “pornographic content.” Each issue featured striking cover artwork by some of the most prominent artists of the period, along with galleries of erotic artworks, historical and contemporary – often seen only in the pages of Plexus.

Plexus, issue 24, May 1969. Cover by Pierre Le Colas. Features a gallery of art by Pierre Le Colas, Modesto Roldan, Ivan Steiger, photography by Jean Clemmer, Piero Fornasetti, Roger Caillois, Robert Sheckley,
and so much more.

VG copy, light wear/age.

File under: Pierre Le Colas Modesto Roldan Ivan Steiger Piero Fornasetti Jean Clemmer Jacques Sternberg Planète / Paris Periodicals Out-of-print / Rare Art Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Art Brut / Folk / Visionary / Fantastic Eros Sociology / Politics Collage / Mail Art / Xerox Art Occult / Esoterica Counterculture Photography Weird / Speculative / Science Fiction

Plexus 11

1967, French
Softcover, 168 pages (w. Leonor Fini pin–up), 20 x 17.8 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Planète / Paris

$65.00 - Out of stock

(more...)

(...less)

Issue 11 of Plexus, an avant-garde French magazine published in Paris from 1966-1970, created as the companion publication to fantastical realist magazine Planète by prominent figures French journalist and author Louis Pauwels and fantastique fiction author Jacques Sternberg. Born from the ashes of surrealism into it's cultivated counterculture and subtitled "the uninhibited magazine", Plexus blended a psychedelic mix of erotica, fantasy, philosophy, psychedelia, literature, esoterica, filmmaking, science fiction, satirical cartoons and more. Only 37 issues total were published during its short four year run, but it made a big splash, even being prohibited to minors in 1967 after just one year of publication for its “pornographic content.” Each issue featured striking cover artwork by some of the most prominent artists of the period, along with galleries of erotic artworks, historical and contemporary – often seen only in the pages of Plexus.

Plexus, issue 24, May 1969. Cover by Leonor Fini. Features a gallery of art by Leonor Fini (with beautiful colour fold–out pin–up), Maurice Henry, Christiane Sabatier, erotic photography by Sam Haskins, Japanese tattoos, interview with Paul Gebhard (American anthropologist and sexologist,) Pol Quentin, Pierre Restany, photos of French actress Dany Carrel, James Thurber, Jean Tardieu, Jean Clemmer, and so much more.

VG copy, light wear/age.

File under: Leonor Fini Sam Haskins Maurice Henry Paul Gebhard Dany Carrel Pol Quentin Pierre Restany Planète / Paris Surrealism Art Painting Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Weird / Speculative / Science Fiction Out-of-print / Rare Periodicals Counterculture Photography Eros Occult / Esoterica

Plexus 27
September 1969

1969, French
Softcover, 132 pages, 20 x 17.8 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Planète / Paris

$30.00 - Out of stock

(more...)

(...less)

Issue 27 of Plexus, an avant-garde French magazine published in Paris from 1966-1970, created as the companion publication to fantastical realist magazine Planète by prominent figures French journalist and author Louis Pauwels and fantastique fiction author Jacques Sternberg. Born from the ashes of surrealism into it's cultivated counterculture and subtitled "the uninhibited magazine", Plexus blended a psychedelic mix of erotica, fantasy, philosophy, psychedelia, literature, esoterica, filmmaking, science fiction, satirical cartoons and more. Only 37 issues total were published during its short four year run, but it made a big splash, even being prohibited to minors in 1967 after just one year of publication for its “pornographic content.” Each issue featured striking cover artwork by some of the most prominent artists of the period, along with galleries of erotic artworks, historical and contemporary – often seen only in the pages of Plexus.

Plexus, issue 27, September 1969. Cover by Julie Leblanc. Features a gallery of art by Julie Leblanc, actress Sylvie D'Haetze, Mao, Michel Lancelot, Jean Gourmelin, Bernard Le Roy, Jean Clemmer, Denis Manceaux and so much more.

VG copy, light wear/age.

File under: Julie Leblanc Jean Gourmelin Sylvie D'Haetze Jean Clemmer Denis Manceaux Mao Michel Lancelot Bernard Le Roy Planète / Paris Periodicals Out-of-print / Rare Counterculture Art Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Photography Eros

Plexus 31
January 1970

1970, French
Softcover, 130 pages, 20 x 17.8 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Planète / Paris

$45.00 - Out of stock

(more...)

(...less)

Issue 31 of Plexus, an avant-garde French magazine published in Paris from 1966-1970, created as the companion publication to fantastical realist magazine Planète by prominent figures French journalist and author Louis Pauwels and fantastique fiction author Jacques Sternberg. Born from the ashes of surrealism into it's cultivated counterculture and subtitled "the uninhibited magazine", Plexus blended a psychedelic mix of erotica, fantasy, philosophy, psychedelia, literature, esoterica, filmmaking, science fiction, satirical cartoons and more. Only 37 issues total were published during its short four year run, but it made a big splash, even being prohibited to minors in 1967 after just one year of publication for its “pornographic content.” Each issue featured striking cover artwork by some of the most prominent artists of the period, along with galleries of erotic artworks, historical and contemporary – often seen only in the pages of Plexus.

Plexus, issue 31, January 1970. Cover by Felix Labisse. Features a gallery of art by Christian Lepère, actor Jean-Marie Rivière, de Sade in cinema, "Female Homosexuality" an investigation by Pierre Hahn featuring contributions by Jean Monod (ethnologist), Violette Morin (sociologist), Joyce Mc Dougall (psychoanalyst), Françoise d'Eaubonne (writer), Father Albert Plé (dominican), Sister M.-L. of the Child Jesus (Orthodox abbess) and photography by Kishin Shinoyama, Baron Wolman, Eikoh Hosoe, and others,

actress Sylvie D'Haetze, Mao, Michel Lancelot, Jean Gourmelin, Bernard Le Roy, Jean Clemmer, Violette Morin, Friedrich Nietzsche, and so much more.

VG copy, light wear/age.

File under: Felix Labisse Eikoh Hosoe Kishin Shinoyama Baron Wolman Jean-Marie Rivière Christian Lepère Planète / Paris Eros Surrealism Out-of-print / Rare Occult / Esoterica Art Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Weird / Speculative / Science Fiction Art Brut / Folk / Visionary / Fantastic Counterculture Japanese Photography

The World of Juan Maeda: Passionate Flames

1976, Japanese
Softcover, unpaginated, 21 x 15 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Cobalt /Tokyo

$180.00 - In stock -

(more...)

(...less)

Very rare 1976 book of decadent artworks by the renowned Japanese SM artist Juan Maeda (b. 1939). Issued a special edition of Gekiga Secret Pleasure, The World of Juan Maeda: Passionate Flames is cover–to–cover full colour painted illustrations of his bewitching erotic SM scenes of intensity spanning the 1970s, including elaborate fold–out pin–up panels. A fine artist amongst the illustrators, and one of the most highly collected, Maeda dropped out of high school and began illustrating manga in the early 1960s. Since the inaugural issue of SM Select, Maeda became a much sought after artist during the SM magazine golden era, working prolifically contributing to magazines such as Jitsuwa to Hiroku, SM Magazine, SM Select, Novel SM Select, SM Fan, Bessatsu SM Fan, SM Club, SM Phoenix, SM Secret Novel, SM Spider, and Mania Club, amongst others, and famously collaborating with the author Oniroku Dan. One of the most accomplished illustrators of the genre, Maeda is a disciple of the celebrated illustrator Taiga Utagawa, famous for his illustrations for children's magazines under the name Oka Tomohiko, who, from 1956, illustrated adult-oriented works himself under Taiga Utagawa and worked as a researcher of esoteric Buddhism. Maeda's style can be best described as "passionate" but also disquieting as his beautifully rendered soft pencil and ink wash depictions of female captive figures are frequently portrayed in the most arduous of kinbaku hardships. A very rare and beautifully produced volume of a bondage art master.

Very Good copy with some wear to extremities, light knock to cover corner with little effect to initials.

File under: Juan Maeda Cobalt /Tokyo Eros Fetishism / BDSM Out-of-print / Rare Counterculture Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Transgressive / Visceral / Abject

Paul Scheerbart
Jenseitsgalerie — Gesammelte Zeichnungen

1981, German
Hardcover (w. dust jacket), 164 pages, 20 x 24.7 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Verlag Klaus G. Renner / Münich

$100.00 - Out of stock

(more...)

(...less)

Beautiful album collecting the graphic works of the eccentric, Danzig-born poet, architectural prophet, and proto-surrealist Paul Scheerbart, edited by Machthild Rausch and published by Verlag Klaus G. Renner, Münich. "Beyond Gallery", reproducing his phenomenal illustrations, alongside texts in German, is a comprehensive overview of the visionary "first Expressionist" and master of the fantastique. Highly recommended.

Paul Karl Wilhelm Scheerbart (1863—1915) was a German author of speculative fiction literature and drawings, best remembered through obscure citations from Walter Benjamin, Walter Gropius, and Bruno Taut. From the late 1880s to his premature death in 1915, he wrote prolifically on science, urban planning and design, space travel, and gender politics, often in the course of a single text. His most celebrated treatise, Glass Architecture (Glasarchitektur, 1914) foretold of a sublime, technocratic civilization whose peaceful world-order was borne from the proliferation of crystal cities and floating continents of chromatic glass, a vision summed up in his aphorism: “Colored glass destroys all hatred at last.” Like his French contemporaries Camille Flammarion, Villiers de L’Isle-Adam, Raymond Roussel, and Alfred Jarry, Scheerbart’s prophetic oeuvre oscillated between themes of technology and aesthetics in a genre known in the Francophone world as fantastique.

Very Good copy with VG dust jacket.

File under: Paul Scheerbart Paul Scheerbart Verlag Klaus G. Renner / Münich Art Brut / Folk / Visionary / Fantastic Out-of-print / Rare Art Drawing Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Architecture / Interior Weird / Speculative / Science Fiction

Raymond Queneau
Dessins Gouaches et Aquarelles

2003, French
Softcover (w. dust jacket), unpaginated, 28 x 22 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Cahiers dessinés / France

$65.00 - Out of stock

(more...)

(...less)

First 2003 edition of this profusely illustrated volume of Queneau's rarely seen visual works.

"Raymond Queneau—draftsman and painter? Indeed! A mere hobby? Certainly not! In the wake of the war, seeking a possible change of direction, the creator of "Zazie" set aside his pen for a time in favor of the paintbrush. Between 1946 and 1952, he produced around a hundred drawings and nearly six hundred gouaches and watercolors. In his hands, drawing and color became an exercise in freedom—buoyant, dynamic, playful, and avid. He mixed styles without regard for aesthetic or theoretical constraints, wandering through a reality that was unusual, often droll, and sometimes melancholic. It is as if he were continuing his poems through graphic art, juggling words using a vocabulary of forms. Though the subject of only a single solo exhibition in 1949, this "sideline" vocation constitutes a body of work in its own right. It is a little-known, surprising poetic vein that reveals another side of the writer; through a collection of over 150 reproductions, we see him here—for the very first time—in full color.

Tracing the arc of his biography and drawing on numerous previously unpublished documents, Dominique Charnay’s text explores Queneau’s place in the world of painting: his encounters, friendships, tastes, and opinions. From the origins of Surrealism through the 1970s, figures such as Tanguy, Masson, Hélion, Torres-García, Miró, Léger, Picasso, Chaissac, Dubuffet, and many others bear witness, each in their own way, to his passionate engagement with the art of his time."

Raymond Queneau (1903–1976). Novelist, poet, philosopher, essayist, encyclopedist, and publisher—the author of "Exercises in Style" traversed the century as an experimenter with language, possessing a clear-eyed gaze, a wry tone, and a certain wisdom. A mathematician associated with Oulipo and the Collège de ’Pataphysique, he was also a surrealist, a member of the Académie Goncourt, and director of the "Encyclopédie de la Pléiade".

DOMINIQUE CHARNAY. A journalist, film critic, bibliophile, and collector, he contributes to Les Cahiers dessinés and various other journals. He is the author of "Moitessier, le chemin des îles", published by Glénat in 1999.

Very Good copy in VG dust jacket.

File under: Raymond Queneau Raymond Queneau Cahiers dessinés / France 'Pataphysics / Oulipo Surrealism Out-of-print / Rare Art Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées

Sidney Sime
Master of the Mysterious

1980, English
Softcover, 96 pages, 28 x 20.5 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Thames and Hudson / London

$70.00 - Out of stock

(more...)

(...less)

First edition of the long out-of-print monograph on the work of Sidney Sime (1867-1941), remembered for his fantastic and satirical artwork, especially his story illustrations for Irish author Lord Dunsany. Published in 1980, Master of the Mysterious collects Sime's incredible paintings, illustrations and graphic works, which are extremely hard to find documented anywhere today, alongside in-depth biographical texts by authors Simon Heneage and Henry Ford, tracing his entire life and career. Includes bibliography, published works, and a full index, making it the most comprehensive resource on the artist ever printed.

"Sidney Sime is probably the greatest imaginative English artist since Blake."—Hannen Swaffer, The Graphic, 1922

Sidney Sime (1867-1941) was an artist whose mysterious and fantastic illustrations were published in the well-known magazines of the turn of the century. He was also a graphic humorist, theatre designer and book illustrator whose imagery became inseparable from the new world of weird fiction and books of horror. Along with long and harmonious collaboration with Lord Dunsany, the Irish story-teller and playwright, a partnership without peer in the annals of fantasy illustration, Sime also provided illustrations to stories by William Hope Hodgson and Arthur Machen, amongst others. Mentioned in the same breath as Goya, Aubrey Beardsley, Arthur Rackham and Kay Nielsen, there is nothing quite like the mysterious works of Sime. Born in Manchester in poverty, Sime began his career working in the mines, before studying at the Liverpool School of Art. Sime had a meteoric career. He rose from pit-boy to artist in the space of a few years and made his name in London largely as an illustrator though he was also a painter of distinction. His abhorrence of Exhibitions (‘that last infirmity of senile kind’) and the effect of the First World War when artists tended to join movements and become socially conscious left the self-doubting individualist Sime somewhat isolated, becoming a recluse in his country house in Surrey. While his reputation languished and talent was neglected by a wider audience, his profound influence has been recorded in the work of writer H. P. Lovecraft and artist Roger Dean. One wouldn't be surprised if Sydney Sime's imagery was a precursor to worlds later created by Miyazaki, Dr. Seuss, and Moebius.

Very Good copy.

File under: Sidney Sime Simon Heneage Henry Ford Arthur Machen Lord Dunsany Thames and Hudson / London Art Drawing Weird / Speculative / Science Fiction Painting Out-of-print / Rare Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées

Mutsumi Yamamoto
L'Eros Sacré

2010, Japanese
Softcover, 48 pages, 29.6 x 22 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Bunkamura Gallery / Tokyo

$150.00 - In stock -

(more...)

(...less)

Rare copy of the large format catalogue published in conjunction with the exhibition of renowned Japanese copperplate engraver and painter Mutsumi Yamamoto (1940–2001) held at the Bunkamura Gallery, Tokyo in 2009. The catalogue includes Yamamoto's copperplate engravings created for books from the late 1960s through the early 1970s, including his prized work for Georges Bataille, as well as pencil drawings and oil paintings from the mid-1970s onward. Interspersed throughout the lush plates of Yamamoto's highly refined, dark, gothic-fantasy, and erotic-symbolist prints and paintings (whose admirers included Leonor Fini) are essays by rare book specialist Noriko Hayashi, former Hanga Geijutsu (Print Art) editor Kai Henmi, and Naosato Miyagawa. Designed in landscape format by Katsuhisa Toda.

Very Good copy, light wear to boards.

File under: Mutsumi Yamamoto Noriko Hayashi Kai Henmi Naosato Miyagawa Bunkamura Gallery / Tokyo Eros Drawing Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées Art Symbolism / Decadence / Fin de siècle Surrealism Out-of-print / Rare Art Brut / Folk / Visionary / Fantastic Painting

Sadomasochism (Graphik Erotik #2)

1993, Japanese
Softcover (w. dust jacket and obi-strip), unpaginated, 14.5 x 10.5 cm
1st Edition, Out of print title / used / very good
Published by Kawade Shobo Shinsha / Tokyo

$70.00 - Out of stock

(more...)

(...less)

Amazing pocket art book of Sadomasochism, the second in the Graphik Erotik series edited by art director Makoto Ohrui (of SALE2/Fiction Inc./Purple/etc.) and published in Tokyo Japan by Kawade Bunko in 1993. Packed cover-to-cover with colour and b/w reproductions of European and American erotica illustrations and photography depicting all manner of lashings, spankings, and torture contraptions through the ages, including artworks by Carlo, Loïc Dubigeon, Serge Nazarieff, Serajat, Jean-Pierre Muhlstein, Juan Jose Fernandez, Luis Vigil, anonymous works from Bizarre Classix, reproductions of private collection prints, and much more. Perfectly compiled in the way SALE2 did so well, with elegant scrapbook style, dense with imagery, blown-up, full-bleed reproductions from many publications. Also includes two postcards bound-in featuring SM photography.

Makoto Ohrui founded the publishing house Fiction Inc. (later Radical Silence Production), the magazine SALE2, the gallery THE deep in Tokyo, and the magazine THE International. Ohrui was art director for SALE2, Purple, Rockin' On, and designed many books.

Very Good copy.

File under: Makoto Ohrui Carlo Serge Nazarieff Serajat Jean-Pierre Muhlstein Juan Jose Fernandez Luis Vigil Loic Dubigeon Makoto Ohrui Kawade Shobo Shinsha / Tokyo Fetishism / BDSM Transgressive / Visceral / Abject Eros Photography Out-of-print / Rare Art Illustration / Graphic Art / Bandes Dessinées