Wild Josh (4 results)

Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 136 pages. 9.00x6.00x0.34 inches. In Stock.

Paperback. Condition: Fine. First Edition. Chicago: The Poetry Foundation. Fine. 2011. First Edition. Softcover. First edition. Magazine. Pictorial wrappers [about 5.5" x 9"], last numbered page is 181 [first numbered page is 103] [plus ads at the rear]. Fine copy. clph Poetry.

Soft cover. Condition: Good. 3rd Edition. Good spiral bound softcover. Illustrated wraps. Moderate general wear. 222pp. Photos. Routes. Climbing guides.

NA. Matting. Condition: Very Good. A piece of ephemera whose interest lies not in its content but rather its embrace of Japonisme. It is especially telling that it does so in a communication in which it would seem doing so in all likelihood would be utterly superfluous as well as irrelevant to the message. We do recognize that the unidentified company may have had a strong nexus with Japan in its business, whether its location or presence, a roster of Japanese suppliers or customers and/or a specialization in fabrics associated with Japan in some way, whether material, pattern, etc., but even if that were the case, we find the choice of stationary bazarre. The letter measures 27 by 19 cm, and it is matted with a matt whose margins are 4 cm wide on the side, 5 cm top and bottom, making the whole matt 35.5 by 26 cm. The basic content of the letter is printed, excepting the signature which appears to be done by hand, and reads as follows: "We beg to announce that Mr. F. W. Hall (Formerly with City Mills Company) is now in charge of FELT DEPARTMENT We thank you for past favors and hope for a continuance of same. Very truly yours, Josh Wild [indecipherable short scribble) December, 1899." In our admittedly cursory Google search, we have located a City Mills Company based in Massachusetts in the late 19th Century, but given the generic character of such a business name, we can't say this was the company named in the letter, and in any event, it is a company that Mr. Hall had left, not the company issuing this letter. Regardless, as we have already maintained, it is the aesthetics of the letter, not its textual content, that are of significance. So the Japanisme aesthetic is evident in several ways. The most obvious is the illustrations of Japanese women and a boy and a girl in traditional garb, a cherry tree arching branch which is acting as a partial border, and not to be slighted, a cat holding up a branch from a cherry tree, this last a nice touch that plays into the Japanese passion for cats. Also, suspended from the branch at the top of the sheet are five canceled Japanese stamps. Finally, the thin paper is just the type used in many a Japanese publication of the era. Condition: a moderate amount of foxing and uneven light browning of the paper. The paper has three folds, now flattened, which suggest that the paper was folded neatly into a smallish envelope back when. The letter, thankfully, is rather loosely attached to the matting. The matting is off-white and in our view, somewhat drab but certainly functional. It is age toned lightly around its edges, and has some minor edge wear, which would be concealed if framed. But chances are an owner wishing to frame the letter, and it certainly deserves to be displayed thus, would replace the matting.