Please visit Penn Libraries to register for this event. Registration for the symposium is free and open to the public. The program will be held in person with an option to join virtually.
Arthur Tress and the Japanese Illustrated Book: A Celebration
September 29-30, 2022
In 2018 acclaimed photographer Arthur Tress donated his collection of Japanese illustrated books, totaling over 1200 titles dating from the late 1700s to the 1930s, to the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts of the University of Pennsylvania Libraries. The collection includes a wide range of examples, including artist books, kyōka poetry, erotica, and design, among others.
In this symposium scholars will discuss the world of Japanese books and collecting. The keynote lecture will be delivered by Peter Kornicki, Emeritus Professor of Japanese Studies, Cambridge University, author of The Book in Japan: A Cultural History from the Beginnings to the Nineteenth Century, Languages, Scripts, and Chinese Texts in East Asia, and Eavesdropping on the Emperor.
Major sponsorship by the Japan Foundation, with co-sponsorship by Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, the Center for East Asian Studies, the Department of the History of Art, and the School of Arts and Sciences Faculty Working Group on premodern Japanese material texts.
