Exhibition catalogue published in conjunction with a traveling show which originated at the Phoenix Art Museum, March 11 - June 11, 1995. Traveled to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, September 10, 1995 - January 7, 1996. "Surimono are deluxe Japanese woodblock prints issued in very limited editions. Produced for special occasions - many served as elegant New Year greetings - these rare masterpieces of the print's art combine embossing, a sophisticated palette, and luxurious materials such as lacquer and metallic pigments. Most surimono were commissioned by poetry clubs and inscribed in flowing calligraphy with whimsical, witty, or humorous poems composed by the club members. The images often played off the poems, making clever use of parody, historical allusion, and ingenious rebuses. Surimono were collected by the Japanese, and, from the the mid-nineteenth century, avidly sought by Westerners as well. The Frank Lloyd Wright collection of surimono was only recently discovered, after resting for years in the vaults of Taliesin West. Escaping the fires that destroyed many of Wright's treasured possessions and the auction block that dispersed much of the remainder after his death, the surimono collection came to light in the winter of 1986, when Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Director of the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, lifted a plain, wooden Japanese box down forma shelf and opened it to discover a group of more than six hundred fifty surimono. In his essay, Pfeiffer recalls Wright's words at one of his talks on Japanese prints: 'This surimono collection somday is going to be something; get it in order.' Now that it has been rediscovered, that's exactly what has been done." -- from interior flap. Essays by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Joan B. Mirviss, and John T. Carpenter. Includes selected bibliography, index of poets, and a general index. Printed in color and black-and-white.