[EHON] Ihara SAIKAKU, author.

HONCHO^ O^IN HIJI

1689. Item #91086

[EHON] Ihara SAIKAKU, author. HONCHO^ O^IN HIJI. 5 volumes, with (original?) blue covers. 25.5 x 18.2 cm. One of the five volumes has the original printed title slip, the rest are brushed. This ukiyo-zo^shi by Saikaku is based on legal cases from China, vernacular literature, etc., but all set in Kyoto. The illustrations are unsigned but in Yoshida Hambei's style. A bit atozuri, but the illustrations are still quite clear. In any case, the covers are a bit worn, but internally quite clean and fresh. Without the original colophon, but one has been brushed in, following the style of the Kashiwara colophon, indicating this is a copy of the second edition of the Kyo^ho^ period (1720-5), though it retains the Genroku 2 [1689] date of the first edition. Saikaku ukiyo^-zo^shi are important monuments of early Edo literature. The illustrations have all the freshness of early ukiyo-e in the style of Yoshida Hambei. In addition, this a particularly unusual work by Saikaku, virtually unknown in the marketplace in any edition. Complete. See Gardner's JAPANESE BOOKS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, items 404-5.

Price: $7,500.00