SUZUKI, Harunobu 鈴木春信, artist.

Ehon misaogusa 絵本節操草 [Illustrated Book of Chaste Women].

15 double-page & 2 single-page woodcuts, all in black & white. 8; 9.5 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo, orig. decorated semi-stiff wrappers, title-slips, new stitching. Edo: Yamazaki Kinbei 山崎金兵衛, 1778.

First edition of this posthumously published ōraimono (textbook) of rules of conduct for women, finely illustrated by Suzuki Harunobu (1724-70), “the best known and most respected today of Shigenaga’s pupils, particularly in the West…From the early 1750s he was known as an artist of considerable talent who made effective use of color at a time when color printing was still in its infancy. His favorite subject was the courtesan, both in prints and books…he achieved a remarkable variety in the pattern and arrangement of their costumes and poses in his color prints. Unlike most artists of his period, he completely avoided the novel and concentrated on ehon.”–Chibbett, The History of Japanese Printing and Book Illustration, pp. 172-73.

The illustrations are charming, showing young women learning from an older woman, a senior woman giving advice to a young mother, three young women perusing kimono pattern books, a young woman creating origami, good grooming, taking calligraphy lessons, bathing, etc. Most of the pictured activities take place at home, and we learn much about the layout of the rooms, women’s accessories, and their styles.

In the anonymous Preface, we learn that Suzuki had been working on the illustrations for this book shortly before his death.

Fine set and rare, with no copy in WorldCat. Marginal worming towards end in Vol. II.