[KEISAI, Eisen 渓斎英泉, artist & author].

Shunjō Fuji no yuki 春情婦嬨の雪 [Spring-Time Love in the Snow].

By Hakusui 白水 [&] Yōryūshi 楊柳子 [two of Keisai’s pen names for works of erotica]. Woodcut frontis. in Vol. I of Mt. Fuji in the clouds, woodcut title-pages in the other vols., seven full-page woodcut ports. of women in Vol. I, 16 double-page woodcuts, & three single-page woodcuts, all finely color-printed & many heightened in silver or gold. 14; 10; 11.5 folding leaves. Three vols. 8vo, orig. semi-stiff wrappers (each decorated with images of Mt. Fuji on upper covers), title-slips (somewhat rubbed), new stitching. [Japan]: from the Preface “1824.”

First edition of this rare Japanese work of erotica by Keisei Eisen (1790-1848). Born a samurai, he was one of the principal ukiyo-e artists of erotica in the later Edo period, rivalling Hokusai, Kunisada, and Kuniyoshi. From the 1810s, he became known for his highly eroticized images of women and his explicit erotic books. A man of dissolute habits, he retired from the art world in about 1830 and owned a house of prostitution.

“Of this group [of the Utagawa school] Keisai Eisen and Hiroshige were the chief figures…the son of Ikedo Yoshikiyo, a Kano painter of Yedo, a writer and a well-known cha-jin or tea ceremony expert[,] Eisen thus had a much higher social position than most of the Ukiyo-ye artists and was familiar with both the Tosa and Kano methods of work. Later he abandoned the classic art and with it, unhappily [not in our opinion], a good many other restraining influences, becoming an exponent of the popular school and adopting the loose manners and morals of many of its members. His ability was undoubted, however, and he was probably the best of Eizan’s pupils…He was an exceedingly clever draughtsman, and used colour with considerable feeling and taste.”–Brown, Block Printing & Book Illustration in Japan, pp. 192-93.

The first volume begins with seven full-page head portraits of women. Two are from the pleasure quarters of Edo and one from Kyoto. The remaining portraits depict a virgin, a geisha of Edo, a mistress, and a divorced woman (or widow). This is an early impression, as we can see, beneath the women’s carefully combed hair, the shape of their ears, making it clear the carver was a master. Dazzling hair ornaments, richly decorated kimono fabrics, and varying applications of makeup all suggest the different characteristics of each woman.

This is a fine example of complex color printing, with multiple impressions of colored woodblocks. There is also frequent use of silver pigment and occasional gold.

The three single-page woodcuts, one in each volume, depict sex aids for men and sex toys for women (dildos, ben wa balls, etc.).

In very good condition, with some thumbing in the lower outer corners. We find no copy outside of Japan.

❧ For Eisen, see Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, pp. 821-26, 894, 900-02, & 904.