Illustrated manuscript on paper, entitled on first leaf “Ansei gozoei zushi” [“Ansei Era Renovation, Illustrated...
Written throughout in a neat hand. Hundreds of brush & ink illus. throughout, many with color washes & metallic pigments. Ca. 800 folding leaves. Ten vols. Large 8vo (298 x 210 mm.),
An important and extremely extensive manuscript on the reconstruction and restoration of the Emperor’s Residence and other buildings of the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Portions of the palace complex, along with many artworks, had been destroyed or were badly damaged in the great Kyoto fire of May 1854. This palace was prone to fires, having been destroyed and rebuilt eight times, six of them during the 250-year-long peace... More