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01 Mar, 2018
Art of the Noh Mask: Heaven Has a Face; So Does Hell
'Art of the Noh Mask: Heaven Has a Face; So Does Hell' is
a beautifully organized book on Noh masks in two volumes.
The first is an exhaustive historical and structural description
of the Noh mask. The second contains more than one hundred
plates of masks drawn from the author's outstanding personal
collection. The photographs taken of the masks are in themselves
works of art, and the printing and book design do them full justice.
The sole criticism to be raised concerns the faint print face of the text
in Volume I, making sustained reading more difficult than it should be.
Volume II and the power of the masks as presented in it carry the
day, however. In sum, this is a publication that the serious Noh mask
collector/enthusiast will treasure. It has no equal in English, certainly,
and would complement the very best of those published in Japan.