The Book of Tea

Rutland, Vermont; (1956): Charles E. Tuttle Co. First Edition. Small Octavo. . First Tuttle edition. Originally published in 1906. Portrait frontispiece, 133 pp. with a foreword and biographical sketch by Elise Grilli. This book is neither simply a study of tea nor an esoteric study of Japan's tea cult. Rather it is a magnificent attempt to make understandable, the essence of Japanese culture, to reveal to the West a unified concept of art and nature. In the art of the tea master, Okakura found the embodiment of the Zen outlook that permeates Japanese culture. Bound in 1/4 brown cloth over decorative paper covered boards, paper labels to upper board and (truncated) spine lettered in black with red rules, some foxing to labels, some light scattered foxing to first few leaves, housed within paper covered slipcase with paper label, foot chipped and worn, some wear to edges, spine faded, and with the original wrap around printed paper band laid in. A very good copy. (Inventory #: 023656)