First Book Published in the West about Bonsai: Rare Book of the Week

Our new Rare Book of the Week is Albert Maumené's Les Abres Nains Japonais, the first book ever published in the West about Bonsai, which comes up for auction at ANNO on May 30.

Published in Paris in 1902 by François Tedesco, only half a dozen copies are extant, and with no record of any sales in recent decades.

The Japanese technique was little written about in Europe until scientific articles were published in France in the late 19th century at a time when the reopening of Japan to the world stimulated considerable interest in Japanese culture. Bonsai examples were exhibited at the third Exposition universelle in Paris in 1878.

French journalist Albert Maumené (1874–1963) wrote numerous works on horticulture and was also a pioneer in flower and fruit photography. The book's Art Nouveau cover - which uses kanji characters for 'The Art of Bonsai' on the front cover and 'Japanese Bonsai' on the back - is signed by painter Moïse Marcel Bloch (1882–1966) who was only 19 when he produced it  before going on to enjoy a verysuccessful career. The book had a limited print run and includes  black photogravures integrated within the text and presented on inserted plates.

This copy was owned by Portuguese industrialist and bibliophile Victor Marat d’Ávila Perez (1881–1968) who put together one of the finest Portuguese libraries of the 20th century, partly auctioned in 1939, and later was held in the library of the Burnay Palace in Lisbon.

The book has an estimate of €50,000 - €100,000.