Books
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Kawanabe Kyosai (1839-1892)- Kyosai rakuga (Kyosai Drawings for Pleasure). 1881.
Illustrated book. 2 volumes complete. Clark, Demon of Painting: The Art of Kawanabe Kyosai, no. 97; Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, Vol. II, plate 180. A Japanese Menagerie , plates 4, 42 and 46. Very good impressions, lacking the hand-stamped seals of the earliest editions. Very good colour and condition.
$1,900 -
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Hatta Koshu ((1760–1822))- Koshu gafu (A Book of Drawings by Koshu). 1812.
Koshu gafu (A Book of Drawings by Koshu). 1812. complete. Mitchell, page 378 Toda, page 367; Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, vol. II, plate 133 and fig. 466. Very good impressions of the first edition. Very good colour. Some damage to the back cover, otherwise very good condition.
$3,000 -
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Nishimura Nantei (1775-1834)- Nantei gafu (A Book of Drawings by Nantei). Illustrated book.3 volumes complete.
(covers). Toda, page 374 Mitchell, pages 431 to 32; Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, vol. II, fig. 460. Provenance: Henri Vever. Fine impressions of the first edition with the poems on each page. Fine condition. Nantei s great forte was capturing the life and movement of groups of figures in a dashing line of great bravura. The 1804 gafu records the Kyoto scene vividly, the streets, the river side, the hawkers, singers, dancers, nuns, lovers, sake parties and picnickers are projected on the page in lines that dance with excitement and fly about in all directions at once to achieve an effect of constant flux (Hillier, The Uninhibited Brush Japanese Art in the Shijo Style, page 153).
$5,000 -
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Watanabe Seitei (1851-1918)- Kacho gafu (A Book of Drawings of Birds and Flowers). 1903
Illustrated book. 1 volume complete. Toda, page 428; Mitchell, page 319. Fine impressions. Fine colour and condition. -
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Kawamura Kiho ((1778–1852))- Kiho gafu (A Book of Drawings by Kiho). 1827.
Illustrated book. 1 volume complete. Mitchell, pages 360 to 61; Toda, page 388. Fine impressions and colour. Some rubbing and soiling to the covers, otherwise very good condition. This is Mitchells example with the stencilled waves in silver on the light blue covers.
$2,800
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Nishiyama Kanei (1834-1897)- Kanei gafu (A Book of Drawings by Kanei). 1886.
Illustrated book. 1 volume complete. Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, Volume II, plate188. Fine impressions and colours. Very good condition with some flaws. Covers worn.
$900 -
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Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)- Ehon wakan no homare (The Picture-book of the Glories of China and Japan). Circa 1850.
Illustrated book. One volume complete. Hillier, The Art of Hokusai in Book Illustration, figs. 213-14; Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, Vol. II, fig. 592. Provenance: Tadamasa Hayashi. Fine impressions and condition. -
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Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)- Shoshoku ehon shinhinagata (Illustrated Book of New Patterns for all Kinds of Trades). 1836.
1 volume complete. Toda page 262, Hillier, The Art of Hokusai in Book Illustration, no. 245. Fine, early impressions of the first edition. Very good condition. Provenance: ex Brookline, MA, Public Library. One of the major books for craftsmen by Hokusai, this volume is devoted mainly to architectural structures and wooden carvings. -
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Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)- Kyosai rakuga (Kyosai's Drawings for Pleasure). 1881.
Illustrated book. 2 volumes complete. 22.2 x 14.8 cm (covers). Clark, Demon of Painting:The Art of Kawanabe Kyosai, no. 97; Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, Vol. II, plate 180; A Japanese Menagerie, plates, 4, 42 and 46; This is Kyosai!, 2017, no. 49. Fine impressions on toshi paper with the hand-stamped seals indicative of early impressions. Fine colour. Very good condition. Described by Hillier as “perhaps Kyosai’s finest work in book form” (op. cit., p. 941). Koto Sadamura has noted that the hand-stamped seal in the colophon appears to be an actual impression of one that Kyosai frequently used on his own paintings. -
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Kuwagata Keisai (Kitao Masayoshi) (1764-1824)- Jinbutsu ryakuga-shiki (Figures in the Abbreviated Style). 1799.
Illustrated book. 1 volume complete. 26.7 x 18.3 cm (covers). Mitchell, page 316; Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, vol. 1, pl. 78, fig. 312. Provenance: Tadamasa Hayashi. Fine, early impressions. Very good colour. Toning on a few plates. Very good condition. As Hillier notes, “the book abounds in some of [Keisai’s] cleverest and funniest creations” (op. cit., page 474).
$4,500
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Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)- Ippitsu gafu (Album of Drawings with One Stroke of the Brush). 1823.
Illustrated book. 1 volume complete. 22.7 x 15.7 cm (covers). Hillier, The Art of Hokusai in Book Illustration, no. 214; Toda 258. Provenance: Emile Javal, Hotel Drouot, Paris, 1927, lot 134. Fine impressions with the hand-stamped seal of the publisher, Eirakuya Toshiro, on the colophon. Very good colour. Some wear to covers. Very good condition. Hillier describes this book as an enchanting succession of colour prints that show Hokusai exalting in the virtuosity of his calligraphic line (op. cit, page 1910. This is an early example, superior to the copies in the Metropolitan Museum (ex Vershbow); British Museum (ex Hillier) and Freer/Sackler Galleries (ex Pulverer). -
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Utagawa Kunitora (Active early to mid 19th century)- Imayo toshiotoko (Modern Men of the Year). Illustrated Book. 3 volumes,lacking title-slips, but otherwise complete. Circa 1827.
Fine impressions with metallic printing. Very good colour and condition. Amongst the rather ordinary designs of this shunga book is one extraordinary illustration, across three pages, of Minamoto no Raiko conjuring up demons with the earth spider depicted as a penis ghost. -
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Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)- Kyosai suiga (shohen) (Kyosai's Intoxicated Drawings, First Series). 1882.
Volume 1 complete. Provenance: Fukutomi Taro. Fine impressions and colour. Very good condition. -
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Utagawa Kunimori (1818-1843)- Shunshoku tama zoroi Circa 1850.
3 volumes complete. 24.5 x 16.7 cm (covers). Fine impressions and colour. -
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Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)- Kyosai rakuga (Kyosai Drawings for Pleasure)
1881.Illustrated book. 2 volumes complete. 22.2 x 14.8 cm (covers). Clark, Demon of Painting: The Art of Kawanabe Kyosai, no. 97, Hillier, Art of the Japanese Book, Vol. II, plate 180. Fine impressions on toshi paper with the hand-stamped seals indicative of early impressions. Fine colour. Very good condition.
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Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)- Watanabe Tazunu [translator)] (1837-1898), Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889), Sakaki Koson (1823-1894) and Fujisawa Bainan (1835-1881)Tsuzoku Isoppu monogatari (A Popular Version of Aesop�s Fables). 1873
Illustrated book. 6 volumes complete. 22.4 x 15.2 cm (covers). Demon of Painting: The Art of Kawanabe Kyosai, no. 80, This is Kyosai!, 2017, no. 46. Provenance: Fukutomi Taro. Very good impressions. Fine condition. -
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Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)- Kyosai manga shohen (Kyosai Rambling Drawings, Volume One). 1881
Illustrated book. 1 volume complete. 22.5 x 15.2 cm (covers). Clark, Demon of Painting: The Art of Kawanabe Kyosai, no. 109, This is Kyosai!, no. 48. Provenance: Fukutomi Taro. Fine impressions and colour. Covers worn. Otherwise, very good condition. -
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Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)- Kyosai suiga sanpen (Kyosai Intoxicated Drawings; Volumes 1-3).1882, 1884, 1890
Illustratrated book. 3 volumes complete. 18.5 x 12.3 cm (covers). Clark, Demon of Painting: The Art of Kawanabe Kyosai, no. 107, This is Kyosai!, 2017, no. 47. Provenance: Fukutomi Taro. Fine impressions, colour and condition. Rarely found complete as volume 3 is particularly uncommon. -
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Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)- Kyosai ryakuga (Sketches by Kyosai). 1881
. Illustrated book. 1 volume complete. 22.5 x 15.2 cm (covers). Very good impressions and condition. -
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Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)- Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889) and Kikuchi Yosai (1788-1878)Ehon taka kagami (An Illustrated Mirror of Falconry). 1879
Illustrated book. 5 volumes complete. 22.8 x 16 cm (covers). Fine impressions and condition.
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Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)- Doi Koka [translator] (1847-1918), Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889), and Okuhara Seiko (1831-1913)Doi Koga yaku haha no michibiki (Doi Koga’s Translation of a Work on Mother’s Guidance). 1874
2 volumes, lacking title-slip on volume 2, otherwise complete. 22.8 x 15.6 cm (covers). Hillier, Art of the Japanese Book, Vol. 11, fig. 630. Fine impressions and colour of this rare book. Wormage. According to Hillier, this translation is based on Jane Haldimand Marcet’s unillustrated book, Conversations for Children on Land and Water of 1838. He writes, “One is constantly astounded at the extraordinary choice of English books for translation into Japanese at this time . . . and Kyosai made a series of lively interpretations of the text that would have certainly baffled or shocked Mrs. Marcet, especially the one where a boy seems to be giving a drawing-room demonstration of the currents set up by a waterfall!” (pages 940-1, op. cit). -
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Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)- Kyosai gafu shohen (Album of Drawings by Kyosai: Volume One). 1860
1 volume complete. 22.7 x 16.0 cm (covers). Provenance: Fukutomi Taro. Fine impressions and colour. Some wormage. Covers worn. Otherwise, very good condition. The rare first edition before the aniline dye reprint. -
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Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)- Fujimi hyakuzu (One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji).
1859. 1 volume complete with 2 half-page and 20 double-page illustrations. Very good to fine impressions. Fine colour. Very good condition. -
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Kawamura Bumpo (1779-1821)- Bumpo gafu [sampan] (Album of Drawings by Bumpo, Third Series)
1813. 1 volume complete. Very good impressions. Very good colour and condition. Mitchell page 228. This volume is noteworthy for the 4 pages of illustrations of a Kyoto painting exhibition.
$800 -
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Nishimura Nantei (1775-1834)- Nantei gafu kohen (Nantei Book of Drawings, 2nd Series)
1826. One volume complete. Mitchell page 432. Fine impressions. Fine colour. Very good condition.
$2,900.
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Hasegawa Myotei (Calligrapher) - Sazare-ishi nyohitsu (Pebbles, Women Handwriting
1713. First volume of three. Fine impressions. Some wormage, otherwise very good condition. -
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Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806)- Ehon warai jogo (Picture Book: The Laughing Drinker)
Circa 1803. Illustrated book. 3 volumes complete. 21.7 x 15.4cm (covers). Asano & Clark 494, Clark, Shunga: Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art nos. 4 and 52. Fine, early impressions with superb, unfaded colour. Original covers and title-slips show wear, but internal contents are fine. This erotic masterpiece is thought to be Utamaro's final shumpon. Each volume opens with a half-length portrait of a beauty and closes with a detail of the genitalia. This book is extensively discussed in Asano & Clark and Shunga: Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art (op. cit. pages 52 and 207). -
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Yanagawa Shigenobu (1787-1832)- Kyoka momo chidori
Circa 1830. Illlustrated book. 1 volume incomplete with 24 plates. 22.4 x 15.2cm (covers). Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, Vol. II, plate 149. Fine impressions with metallic printing. Fine colour. Very good condition. Hillier knew of only two copies in Western collections, both also incomplete (op. cit., page 785). However there is another incomplete copy in the Cheser Beatty Library which seems to have the same pagination as ours (see Keyes, Chester Beatty, Vol. II, no. 397). The printing of this book is of surimono quality and its rarity is a result of the act of breaking up the book to sell the plates as single sheets. -
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Kitao Shigemasa (1739-1820)- Yokyoku iro bangumi (Programme of Erotic Noh Plays)
1781. 3 volumes complete. Fine impressions. Very good condition. Shunga, Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art, British Museum, 2013, no. 90. The plate illustrated seems to have influenced Hokusai and his famous octopus image. -
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Sakai Hoitsu (1761-1828)- Oson gafu (The Picture Album of Oson)
1817. Illustrated book. One volume complete. 27.9 x 18.7cm (covers). Mitchell pages 443-4, Ryerson pages 362-3, Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, Vol. II, plates 120-21, figs, 427-9. Fine, early impressions of the first edition with woodgrain, metallic printing and the silver wave pattern on the covers. Fine colour. Very good condition. this is the finest copy we recall having seen of one of the most beautiful of all Rimpa books.
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Sakai Hoitsu (1761-1828)- Oson gafu (The Picture Album of Oson)
1817. Illustrated book. One volume complete. 27.9 x 18.7cm (covers). Mitchell pages 443-4, Ryerson pages 362-3, Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, Vol. II, plates 120-21, figs, 427-9. Fine, early impressions of the first edition with woodgrain, metallic printing and the silver wave pattern on the covers. Fine colour. Very good condition. this is the finest copy we recall having seen of one of the most beautiful of all Rimpa books. -
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Utagawa Kunisada and Totoya Hokkei - Yakusha sanjurokkasen (Actors as the Thirty-six Poets)
1835. 1 volume complete. Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, Volume 1, figs. 281 and 282. Fine impressions. Slight wormage. Very good condition. -
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Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)- Manji-o sohitsu gafu (Picture Book of Drawings in Cursive Style by the Old Man Manji)
1843. 1 volume complete. Fine impressions. Very good condition. Rare in early impressions. -
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Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)- Ukiyo-e gafu
Ca. 1850. Volume 3 complete. Very good impression, colour and condition.
$800 -
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Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)- Kyosai hyakki gadan (Kyosai Illustrations of the Hundred Demons)
1889. 1 volume complete. Very good impressions, colour and condition.
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Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)- Kyosai manga shohen (Kyosai Rambling Drawings: First Series)
1881. 1 volume complete together with the original wrapper for the book. Very good impressions. Very good colour and condition. -
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Kitao Shigemasa (1739-1820)- Keika Toridasuki
1783. Illustrated book. 1 volume complete with twelve illustrations. 27.2 x 18.2 cm (covers). Fine impressions. Brilliant, fresh, unfaded colour. Fine condition.
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