Le Livre Du Thé

Okakura Kakuzô (1862-1913), the son of a high-ranking samurai, was one of the leading figures in Japanese culture and art. He wrote The Book of Tea in 1906 in English to convey to Westerners the atmosphere and spirit of the tea ceremony (cha no y) and the way of tea (chado). Okakura's vision is rooted in the values of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism; drinking tea is both an intense spiritual communion and an aesthetic experience.

The Book of Tea was published in 1930 in French by Bibliophiles du Faubourg, in an edition that included a translation by the art critic and poet Gabriel Mourey (1865-1943) and watercolours by J.A. Tohno. This facsimile of copy no. 94 of the 1930 edition offers a journey to the origins of tea as a plant, a beverage, an art of living, an aesthetic, a philosophy and a spiritual discipline.