#Woodcuts

[clawmarks]

A view of the bend in the Danube looking down high cliffs - Hugo Henneberg - c.1910 - via The British Museum

#landscape #woodcuts #rivers #art nouveau

[nobrashfestivity]

Edvard Munch, an interesting print of Man and Woman. Here the eyes are downcast rather than wide and the head of the man is all but obliterated.

1899

#edvard munch #woodcuts

[thefugitivesaint]

Duilio Cambellotti (1876-1960), ''Le Siepe di Smeraldo'' by Ettore Cozzani, 1920 Source

#Duilio Cambellotti #italian artists #Ettore Cozzani #woodcuts #vintage illustration #owls

[thegothicera]

The Murder of Julius Caesar from Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris, German, ca. 1474

#gothic #medieval #woodcuts #julius caesar #ides of march #poulaines #chaperons #late gothic

[uwmspeccoll]

Staff Pick of the Week

My staff pick this week is the trade edition of The Tale of the Shining Princess by Japanese-born writer Hisako Matsubara (b.1935) and Japanese-Canadian artist-printmaker Naoko Matsubara (b.1937), published by Kodansha International LTD. Tokyo, Japan in 1966. 

As a artist-printmaker and bookmaker who makes woodcuts, I am greatly inspired by Naoko’s prints. Naoko Matsubara’s work carries on traditions of Japanese printmaking while having its own contemporary flavor. Her woodcuts are ecstatic, they are vibrating with movement. Her use of bold shapes and the white line of the the carving tool makes the most of what woodcut has to offer. In the book form, the active images carry the reader’s eyes through the book space. Her use of negative space activates the page. Additionally, her woodcuts have translated beautifully to commercial printing. 

The Matsubara sisters are daughters of a senior Shinto priest, and were raised in Kyoto. Both studied, lived, and worked in the United States. Hisako received her Master of Arts degree from Pennsylvania State College, moving to Germany where she continued her studies and became a prominent writer, publishing her work in Japanese, English, and German. In the 1980s she moved back to the United States, this time to California where she worked at Stanford University. 

Naoko received her Master of Fine Arts from Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, now Carnegie Mellon University. After her studies she traveled across Europe and Asia. She returned to the United States and became the personal assistant to the artist and wood engraver Fritz Eichenberg, an artist who has been featured many times on our blog. Naoko taught at Pratt University in New York and at the University of Rohde Island. She also lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts for a time. Naoko is currently living and working in Canada in Oakville, Ontario, where she continues to work and exhibit nationally. 

The work of both Hisako and Naoko have had great influence inside the United States and around the world. So lets celebrate their accomplishments! 

This book has end sheets of mulberry paper with inclusions of Bamboo leaves, the cover is a red textured paper with a gold stamped design by Naoko. 

View some of our other AAPI selections for this month.

View our other Staff Picks.

- Teddy, Special Collections Graduate Intern

#staff pick of the week #The Tale of The Shining Princess #hisako matsubara #naoko matsubara #Japanese artists #Japanese writers #Japan #AAPI Hertitage Month #Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month #AAPI #canadian artists #trade edition #Matsubara #woodcuts #printmaking #color printmaking #fiction #stories #teddy

[othmeralia]

What your zodiac sign says about you....

Margarita philosophica (1503).

#rare books #old books #rare book #woodcuts #zodiac signs #zodiac #why are the Pisces the feet? #history #science #scientific illustration #16th century #othmeralia

[illustratus]

Knight and the Servant by Hans Wechtlin

#hans wechtlin #art #knight #knights #renaissance #german renaissance #germany #german #strasbourg #europe #european #history #medieval #middle ages #woodcut #woodcuts #chivalry

[cuties-in-codices]

partial and total lunar eclipses

woodcuts in Petrus Apianus' "Astronomicum Caesareum", a printed astronomical book, Bavaria, 1540

source: Kassel, Universitätsbibliothek, 2° Ms. astron. 16, fol. 67r, 68r and 69r.

#for once not a manuscript #woodcuts #astronomicum caesareum #petrus apianus #lunar eclipse #historical astronomy #umbra terre #astronomy #astronomical illustrations #16th century #moon

[organicmatter]

Woodcut by Agnes Miller Parker

#woodcuts #art #prints #printmaking #swans #birds

[u-mspcoll]

Upcoming Exhibit and Lecture: Illustrating the Renaissance Book: From Illumination to Woodcut

Valerius Maximus (1st c. AD). Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX. Italy. 15th c. Parchment,126 fols. Fol. 5r

Full-page illumination from Carta Executoria de hidalguia de sangre a pedimento de Don Juan de Mansilla como curador de Doña Francisca de Mansilla, hija de Baltasar de Mansilla, vecinos de la villa de Aranda de Duero. Valladolid, 1636 Parchment, 93 fols. Fol. 2r

Full-page woodcut depicting the procession of Priapus, the Greek god of animal and vegetable fertility. Hypnerotomachie, ou Discours du songe de Poliphile Ed: Jean Martin Paris: Jean le Blanc for Jacques Kerver, 1561 Fol. 69r. Loan courtesy of William P. Heidrich

Come explore a selection of manuscripts and early printed books from the 15th to the 17th centuries that were illustrated with illuminations and woodcuts! The display will be up in the Hatcher Gallery Exhibit Room from 6 September to 14 December.

And join us on Wednesday 13 September at 4p in the Hatcher Gallery event space or on zoom a for lecture based on the exhibit.

We hope to see you there!

#events #exhibits #special collections #special collections libraries #libraries #archives #libraries and archives #special collections and archives #manuscripts #manuscript culture #early printed books #book illustrations #illustrated books #illustrations #illumination #illuminated manuscripts #manuscript illumination #woodcuts

[holespoles]

Antonio Frasconi (1919-2013） woodcut from The World Upside Down, 1952

#Antonio Frasconi #illlustration #woodcuts

[clawmarks]

Keinen kachō gafu - Keinen Imao - 1891 - via Internet Archive

#illustration #birds in art #woodcuts

[nobrashfestivity]

Bertha Lum (American, 1869 - 1954) Birds, 1924, Gravalos/Pulin Raised-line woodcut with hand coloring on heavy paper, 23 1/2 x 15 3/4 inches, signed and dated in pencil, titled verso, trimmed to the image by the artist, good impression, color and condition. No. 12-7102

#bertha lum #woodcuts #birds

[thefugitivesaint]

Duilio Cambellotti (1876-1960), ''Le Siepe di Smeraldo'' by Ettore Cozzani, 1920 Source

#Duilio Cambellotti #italian artists #Ettore Cozzani #woodcuts #vintage illustration #La siepe di smeraldo

[thegothicera]

Man of Sorrows, German, ca. 1465-1470

#gothic #medieval #woodcuts

[uwmspeccoll]

Marbled Monday

This marbled Monday we're sharing the devilishly delightful book The Devil's Dictionary by American short story writer, poet, and journalist Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?). A widely influential writer of many sorts, Bierce disappeared in Mexico in 1913, so the actual date and circumstances of his death are unknown. The Devil's Dictionary is a satirical dictionary consisting of humorous definitions and is considered one of the best pieces of satirical humor to come out of the United States.

This edition was published in 1972 by the Limited Editions Club and features woodcut illustrations and devilish ornaments by German artist Fritz Kredel (1900-1973). The marbled paper used for the endpapers and the slipcase are patterned using a fantasy design in red and black that is described as a "harmonizing flame pattern" in the prospectus. Our copy is from the collection of Austin Frederic Lutter and includes his bookplate.

View more Marbled Monday posts.

-- Alice, Special Collections Department Manager

#Marbled Monday #The Devil's Dictionary #Ambrose Bierce #Limited Editions Club #Fritz Kredel #woodcuts #marbling #marbled paper #fantasy pattern #the devil #dictionaries #LEC