Ranpu [Lamps]

KAWAKAMI (Sumio).

Ranpu [Lamps]

First edition in dust jacket

First edition, no.83 of a limited edition of 250, signed. Copious colour woodblock illustrations, three of which hand-coloured by Kawakami, with text printed in letterpress. 285 by 200mm. Fukuro-toji binding, original printed paper wrappers and title slip, with original printed paper sleeve with ribbon ties, housed in a later chitsu folding case, printed bookplate ‘Ex-libris Kinatsuso’ pasted above signature, light crease and wear to dust jacket, otherwise a fine copy. Unpaginated, [26]ff. Tokyo, Aoi Shobo, Showa 15 [i.e, 1940.

£2,500.00

Kawakami Sumio’s fascination with Western lamps, expressed beautifully with text and illustration. So popular was this title that it was reprinted twice; first in 1953 and later in 1977.

For Kawakami, lamps were a theme that he continued to return to in his books. They symbolised the sense of enlightenment that came with the opening of Japan in the Meiji period (1868-1912), when there was a great influx of cultural and technological influence from the West. In this book, he begins by telling the story of nanban (‘southern barbarians’, but more accurately translated to ‘foreigners’) entering Japan, importing many goods. Kawakami had grown up in Yokohama, a port city known to be a great melting pot, and shares memories of his hometown and the Western lamps they had at home. The illustrations are highly evocative - while some show scenes of people gathered around lamps, others show more detailed depictions of their various types. In his adult life, Kawakami was a collector of Western-style lamps.

Rare. One copy in OCLC (National Diet Library).

Stock No.

255979

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Ranpu [Lamps]

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