lamdha books -
Catalogue of books on Japanese martial arts and weapons

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215130 Earle, Joe Lethal Elegance The Art of Samurai Sword Fittings Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2004. Quarto; gate-fold paperback; 256pp., colour illustrations. Remainder. New. Click here to order $28

207389 Gleason, William The Spiritual Foundations of Aikido Destiny Books, Rochester NY, 1995. Quarto; paperback; 203pp., with monochrome illustrations. Mild wear; rubbed covers with slight wear to edges; creasing at corners; a few small marks to the text block edges. Very good. Click here to order $17

93698 Haskel, Peter Sword of Zen Master Takuan and his Writings on Immovable Wisdom and the Sword Taie University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu HI, 2013. Octavo; paperback; 182pp. Remainder. New. Click here to order $17

207404 Kenrick, Doug The Book of Sumo Sport, Spectacle, and Ritual James Weatherhill Inc., New York NY, 1969. Octavo; hardcover, with silver-gilt upper board and spine titling and decorated endpapers; 171pp., with many monochrome illustrations. Mild wear; lightly toned and faintly spotted text block edges; one or two scattered spots to the early pages. Dustwrapper with tiny tears, chipping and scrapes along upper edge; now backed by archival-quality white paper and professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Click here to order $35

207768 Kokubo, Kenichi [The Equipment of a Japanese Sword Encyclopedia Illustrated] Kogeisha Publishing, Tokyo Japan, 1971. Royal octavo; hardcover, full cloth with silver-gilt spine titles; 136pp. (Japanese text), with many full-colour and monochrome illustrations. Minor wear. Dustwrapper now backed by archival-quality white paper and professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Near fine. Click here to order $40

207561 Lewis, Peter The Art of the Ninja Ward Lock Ltd., London, 1988. Quarto; hardcover, with illustrated boards; 128pp., with many full-colour and monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; boards a bit rubbed. Dustwrapper rubbed and edgeworn; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Near fine. Click here to order $24

207324 Lowry, Dave Sword and Brush The Spirit of the Martial Arts Shambhala Publications Inc., Boston MA, 1995. Octavo; paperback; 119pp. Minor wear; covers rubbed and edgeworn with some light creasing. Very good. Click here to order $15

207756 Munroe, Alexandra (ed.) Spectacular Helmets of Japan 16th-19th Century Japan Society/Kodansha International, New York NY, 1985. Quarto; hardcover, full cloth with gilt spine titles; 193pp., with many full-colour illustrations. Minor wear. Dustwrapper now backed by archival-quality white paper and professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Near fine. Laid in: a page of Japanese calligraphy. A masterpiece of fantastic and fantastical helmets of the Samurai Lords. Click here to order $50

207336 Robinson, B.W. Arms & Armour of Old Japan Victoria & Albert Museum Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1963. Reprint: octavo; paperback; 18pp., with 26pp. of monochrome plates. Minor wear; covers lightly rubbed. Very good. Click here to order $15

207523 Robinson, B.W. The Arts of the Japanese Sword Faber and Faber Ltd., London, 1970. Reprint: octavo; hardcover, with gilt spine titles on a black label; 110pp., with 8 colour plates, 104pp. of monochrome plates and many other monochrome illustrations. Mild wear; spine heel softened; some minor spotting to the text block edges; previous owner's name in ink to the flyleaf. Price-clipped dustwrapper is lightly rubbed and edgeworn; now backed by archival-quality white paper and professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. This book contains detailed information about the making of blades, and also about guards and other sword furniture; there is a highly technical chapter on how to judge a blade, another on the chief schools of Japanese swordsmiths and lists of swordsmiths with their names in Japanese characters, and the schools to which they belonged, along with a thousand other items of information about, for instance, care and cleaning, evolution of styles, year periods, nomenclature of parts and places of manufacture. Indispensable for the collector. Click here to order $60

207439 Sasamori, Junzo & Gordon Warner This is Kendo Charles E. Tuttle Co., Rutland VT, 1972. Octavo; hardcover, with metallic red spine titling; 159pp., with many monochrome plates and illustrations. Mild wear; offsetting to pastedowns and endpapers; faint spotting to text block edges. Illustrated dustwrapper with chipping and wear to edges; tiny tear on lower front edge; now backed by archival-quality white paper and professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Click here to order $25

203734 Shioda, Gozo (Jacques Payet and Christopher Johnston, trans.) Aikido My Spiritual Journey Kodansha International, Tokyo Japan, 2013. Octavo; hardcover; 205pp. Dustwrapper. Remainder. New. Click here to order $24

203785 Tanaka, Fumon Sword Techniques of Musashi and the Other Samurai Masters Kodansha International, New York NY, 2013. Quarto; hardcover; 233pp., monochrome illustrations. Dustwrapper. Remainder. New. Click here to order $25

51613 Turnbull, Stephen The Samurai and the Sacred Osprey, Oxford, 2006. Hardcover, small quarto, 224pp., colour plates. Dustwrapper. New, remainder. Most works on the samurai of Japan focus on the martial aspects of the culture; in this work, however, Stephen Turnbull - a world-renowned expert on the subject - chooses instead to expand upon the spiritual roots of the warrior caste. The samurai trod a narrow path between military function and the Buddhist constraints imposed by society; the blending of these philosophies - and also of such ideologies as Confucianism and even Christianity - led to some extraordinary intellectual and spiritual athleticism. Turnbull discusses the various individuals, texts, sects and cults that have shaken the Japanese swordsmen across the ages. Click here to order $25