[EHON] Niwa KAGEN, artist

FUKUZENSAI GAFU

1814. Item #87925

[EHON] Niwa KAGEN, artist. FUKUZENSAI GAFU 5 volumes. Tall, slender orihon folding volumes in original brownish yellow covers, with original printed title labels. 28.0 x 15.2 cm. There are a total of 40 delicately printed color double-page woodblock prints. Done with subtlety and much use of bokashi, though a few of the prints are a bit out of register. This copy collates exactly the same as Mitchell's Example "B" at pp. 255-6. The FUKUZENSAI GAFU is an interesting book, as, according to the book's preface, it was ostensibly created by Kagen in the early 1780s and here the original blocks, with color blocks added, were used in bunka 11 [1815] to print a full edition. I can see no reference save that of the preface of the book itself which indicates that the original edition was ever printed in any form. This is a work which, when seen, is usually quite tired. It appeared on various types of paper and the slightly heavier washi used here has stood up quite well to the years, without much browning of the lovely colors. The harder toshi paper sometimes used is often quite browned and fragile, the folds splitting. So, this is a quite unusually whole and lovely version of the book. Complete.

Price: $2,850.00