18.       CATALOGUE OF RARE JAPANESE PLANTS, STONE AND BRONZE GARDEN ORNAMENTS AND A JAPANESE HOUSE,   Artistically Designed And Built Of Rare Woods, The Whole To Be Sold At Absolute Public Sale By Order Of O. Tsuji, Tokio... At The American Art Galleries, Madison Square South.    New York: American Art Association,   1904.          This rare auction catalogue offered for sale in New York City a major collection of Japanese bonsai, bonkei and miniature gardens. "The present collection was intended as an exhibit at the St. Louis Exposition, for which naturally none but the choicest specimens were selected, but the owner, rather than incur a large expenditure, at the risk of exposing the plants for an indefinite period, has arranged for the disposal of the entire collection at absolute public sale." (quoted from prefatory note). The two-day auction included over 400 lots, many of them listing specimens from one to two (or more) centuries old. Botanical and Japanese names are given for most entries, along with descriptions, dimensions, age, the type of pot and, in a few cases, the name of the previous owner or gardener. The oldest was a "Chabo Hiba" (Thuya obtusa) 450 years old, whose successful purchaser was also offered the free services of an expert Japanese gardener for a year. The auction also included several antique Japanese garden ornaments and the disassembled Garden Tea House which was meant to be the center piece of the exhibition. Twenty-five of the horticultural lots are illustrated by photographs. Additionally, five of the plates depict ornaments or the tea house and its gate. Rare; no copies listed in OCLC.   8vo (22.2 x 16 cm) 11 + 15-64 pp. + 19 half-tone plates, including frontispiece.            Original printed paper wraps with color illustration; backstrip re-inforced with paper tape; two short tears in margin of title page and frontispiece; library rubber stamp and discard stamp on title page. $300.00

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