Baren

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Baren 

Yamada, Sadatoshi, Ōki, Reiko, Kobayashi, Yoshito, Tanaka, Michio ... [et al.] [illustrated by].

[Okayama: Okayama Bijutsu Dōkōkai Hanga Sākuru], 1959-[1961?]. 

Issues six, eight, nine, and twelve of Baren, an obscure magazine created by (and produced for) members of the Okayama Art Lovers' Printing Circle. Issue six features ten hand-printed illustrations and a hand-printed upper wrapper, issue eight features fifteen hand-printed illustrations and one hand-printed illustration tipped-in to the upper wrapper, issue nine features eight hand-printed illustrations and hand-printed wrappers (with one print tipped-in to the upper wrapper), and issue twelve includes four hand-printed illustrations and a hand-printed upper wrapper. Most of the prints are tipped-in; others are full-size and bound-in. Issue twelve seems to lack one print mentioned in the index, although it is possible the artist failed to complete it in time for inclusion. Since each illustration was hand-printed and the Printing Circle seems to have had very few members (the back matter of issue nine indicates that eleven people attended the March 16th, 1960, meeting, and issue twelve lists only six contributors), it seems probable that the issues were privately published in a very limited edition. The back matter of issue nine includes descriptions of the featured prints by their artists and criticism (some constructive, some not) of the prints voiced by members at the March 16th meeting. Tanaka Michio, a member who contributed prints and occasional postscripts, was the representative of the group and was probably the editor of the journal. The journal is thought to be unrelated to the short-lived periodical of the same title produced by Hashiguchi Yasuo and the Baren-kai in Tokyo in 1949. A baren - a circular pad wrapped in a bamboo leaf - is used in woodblock printing to press the paper to the prepared block. A little-known 1960s production indicative of a continued interest in the sōsaku hanga movement of the early twentieth century. The four issues are accompanied by incomplete and disbound copies of issues ten and eleven. No copies traced in OCLC or major Japanese library databases. 

Issues 6, 8, 9, and 12, staple- and stab-bound, on single leaves. Original wrappers lightly soiled and browned, bumps to corners. Tears to wrappers of issue 6. Light marks, browning, and creases to prints. Minor chipping to extremities, occasional tears. Issue 12 possibly lacking one print, title print loose. Accompanied by incomplete and disbound copies of issues 10 and 11. [Unpaginated]. Issues measure approx. 36.4 x 25.7 cm.

Baren
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