japonisme: the universal library

06 March 2011

the universal library

the blossoming of access to the world's archives marvels me regularly. i've recently found some which probably everyone already knows about, but in case you don't, i thought i'd tell you.








this all started when i was looking something up in my various books about vienna 1900 -- i can't even remember what now, but probably related to all the printmaker talk... and in one book, all in italian, suddenly tuned in to the fact that all of my favorite images were from someone names m. von luttich, in something called 'meggendorfer-blatter.'

time for google, of course. with that help and a bunch of poking around, i found myself here. (i have to make a depressing personal admis- sion here, that i hesitate to reveal sources because of those who steal and claim ownership; do you lock your doors just because you know the thief will be back? well, if you do, others too can only come so close, and no closer. is this how one wishes to live one's life?) not only issues of the meggen- forfer-blatter journal, but many complete issues of pan, which i have always wanted to see, plus jugend, and numerous others most of which i had never heard.

treasures galore! along with temporary disappoint- ments; not one of the issues of m-b with those of mila's pieces from my book were up yet! I found numerous others, but i still like the first ones best.


numerous other things took me by surprise: by and large, these were quite different from the, say, french journals of the same time. i know it's satire, but were all germans of the time large, unattractive, devious and angry? clearly i've found examples of otherwise, but i am left with the feeling that what we are already familiar with from the ubiquitous dover books is the best and most beautiful of the lot.

each time you click on something and end up at a new page you are given the option of switching the text to english, but if you do so, it only lasts that one page. as that was too annoying for me, most of the time, i had no idea what i was doing. what else is new?

but be sure to note that there are links on most pages that lead you to other pages, many of which offer another group of magazines. there're so many things i've not yet seen, well, let's just say i probably won't be getting much embroidery done for a bit....

what i found to be the easiest way to maneuver was to click on the 'vorschau' tab to see thumbnails of all of the pages, and go in to the ones you want. many pages are text only, and that can get a bit tired going page to page.

now, what i'm not sure of what i'll do is whether i'll wait until the issues i'm interested in are uploaded to show y'all those images, or photograph them from the book, where they're really too small. none of the periodicals displayed are a complete run, but most promise to be at some point.

in any case, if you read french or german, be prepared for some surprises of favorite poets works published, or artists you've known as textile designers, like wimmer, also turning out to be illustrators.

i hope you find some treasures so i can learn more from you.

coming up are some additions online treasures to navigate. meanwhile, can anyone figure out whose signature this is??? -- thanks.

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8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Γεια σου, πράσινε λωτέ, χρόνια πολλά σε εσένα και σε όλες τις γυναίκες. Δ

08 March, 2011 06:22  
Blogger lotusgreen said...

Je pensais justement à vous! Je vous remercie avec enthousiasme pour votre accueil chaleureux. J'espère que vous avez pardonné à ma confusion.

08 March, 2011 07:26  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

On pardonne tout à un lotus vert, surtout quand il n'a rien fait de mal. C'est mon anglais exécrable qu'il faudrait pardonner, autant que ma mauvaise habitude de m'introduire à la hussarde dans les conversations d'autrui. Mais c'est parfois si passionnant... Bonne fête encore et bonne continuation pour notre plus grand plaisir! d

08 March, 2011 09:06  
Anonymous evan said...

this is like a Rorschach test right? Well, going by my initial instinct, I see an 18th century ship...or a shaman with a birds head...close...right?

08 March, 2011 10:38  
Blogger lotusgreen said...

Θέλω να αγκαλιάσω :^)

08 March, 2011 11:49  
Blogger lotusgreen said...

evan-- ??!

do you mean that signature?

it's just the odd multi-limbed thing, and it's supposedly someone's chop, and i didn't find any attribution to tie it to

08 March, 2011 11:54  
Anonymous evan said...

I looked around for a matching artist's monogram...no matches anywhere- Is there more of the image to see, or would that just totally give it away? Sorry for the loopy answer...so far, it's been one of those years. What's really making me crazy...I think I've seen that somewhere before...

10 March, 2011 09:20  
Blogger lotusgreen said...

yeah-- i've been looking too. i don't think the rest of the image was any clue at all, and besides i would be hard pressed to find it again! thing is, it's got so many letters, it seems, as opposed to the more normal 2 or 3.

well, i'll keep hunting, and surely let you know if i come up with anything. you do the same, ok?!

10 March, 2011 11:53  

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hi, and thanks so much for stopping by. i spend all too much time thinking my own thoughts about this stuff, so please tell me yours. i thrive on the exchange!

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