About the Collection
The Mary Ainsworth Collection consists of 114 lots amounting to over 300 volumes of Japanese Artists' books.
Mary A. Ainsworth graduated from Oberlin College in 1889. Her collection of Japanese Books and Art Prints was bequeathed to Oberlin College in 1950. The works are mostly concentrated in the late Edo (1603-1867) and Meiji periods (1868-1912) with a few from the Taisho period (1912-1926). The art is of the type associated with the from the Ukiyo-e, or "floating world." The collection also holds seven wood blocks for printing (two surfaced with etched metal plates).
This collection represents a portion of a gift made to Oberlin College's Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM) of more than 1,500 Japanese woodblock prints from the 17th- to 19th-century Japan. After separating the gallery worthy prints from the "study collection" most, if not all, of the books and some few of the prints were relegated to the Allen's own library. This library was later absorbed into the wider Oberlin College Libraries system. A rising interest in the subject matter of the books themselves as well as reading practices and Japanese publishing history, saw them gathered into a Special Collection where they were boxed in 2005 and given great organization. Later efforts to identify, catalog and scan the books are ongoing.
Mary A. Ainsworth