82 black & white silhouette ports. on pale blue backgrounds & numerous finely color-printed vignettes & “poem-strips.” 48 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. decorated wrappers, orig. block-printed title label on upper cover, new stitching. [Japan]: 1867.

First edition of this finely color-printed book which contains a memorable double-page frontispiece by Zeshin (1807-91), the leading Shijo-style painter of the Meiji period, one of the greatest of lacquer artists of his time, and a prominent contributor of designs for books. “In the Meiji period [and before], the presence of a print designed by Zeshin invariably gave a certain cachet to any book of... More

Four remarkable double-page & seven full-page woodcuts in Vol. I. Four vols. Small 8vo, orig. patterned wrappers (upper cover of first vol. soiled), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. Edo: Tsuruya Kinsuke, 1811.

First edition of one of the two most famous fictional works by Shikitei and his student Basho Rakutei. The writings of Shikitei “are generally recognised as the best guide to the speech of the period. Describing the speech of Edo people, Shikitei [in the present work] makes a distinction between what he calls Hon-Edo (‘Proper’ Edo) and Edo-Namari (‘Corrupt’ or ‘Common’ Edo). Hon-Edo was... More

30 leaves, one blank leaf at end with scholarly annotations dated 1927, all on fine torinoko paper. Small 4to (240 x 178 mm.), decchoso (“butterfly”) binding of early decorated navy blue wrappers (a few careful repairs, one leaf sprung); landscapes of pine trees with mist, all in gold & gold “mud,” painted on covers; orig. orange manuscript title label on upper wrapper. [Japan: mid-Edo].

A beautifully written and bound manuscript of Shojin gyorui monogatari, a fascinating parody of the Heike monogatari [Tale of Heike], a historical epic written in the late 12th or early 13th century. Tale of Heike, second... More

Japan: ca. 1818-30.

An excellent example of a woodblock for the production of prints for a mamehan shunga, small-format erotic prints in the form of cards typically measuring 90 x 120 mm. The production of these shunga thrived in the years 1818-30. Issued in sets of twelve, they were printed in large runs and very popular. About 1500 mamehan shunga are known to have been issued. They were often carried tucked into the breast section of kimono robes.

The obverse side of our woodblock is carved with the basic outline of four images for these cards; the sheet of printed... More

Scroll (365 x 5560 mm.), with gold endpaper at beginning, on a wooden roller. [Japan]: at end, in trans.: “this secret information was given by Shichibei Itsuki to Shingobei Saijo in 1769.”

The spear (yari) was one of the primary weapons used in the feudal period of Japan. Many variations of the head of the spear were developed, some for thrusting by foot soldiers and some for slashing, designed for men on horseback.

This finely illustrated scroll describes the teachings of the Oshima ryu (school) of fighting with a spear (sojutsu). The Oshima ryu traces its origins to the 16th... More

Ten columns per page with interlinear printing in a smaller font. Text-block: 233 x 160 mm. 85; 88 folding leaves. Two vols. Large 8vo (280 x 198 mm.), orig. persimmon-stained wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. [Kyoto?]: mid-Genna [before 1617?].

First edition, extremely rare, with no copy in WorldCat, of this masterpiece of movable wood type printing, exhibiting both kanji, in three font sizes and several styles, and hiragana, in one elegant font. All these beautiful fonts employ extensive use of ligatures, enabling the print to represent the flow of calligraphy, much in the style of... More

One double-page & nine full-page illus. in the text. 90 folding leaves. Large 8vo, orig. patterned wrappers, modern stitching. Osaka: 1803.

First edition of one of the best and most influential recipe books of its period, written for wealthy homes. The author follows the cooking philosophy of Yuan Kitamura, who invented or codified many recipes in the early 18th century. A series of the recipes are still used today: using dashi to make broth, and how to make many kinds of soy sauce, vinegar, and miso. Sugino discusses when to use which kind of soy sauce or vinegar or miso... More

20-23 columns per sheet, 17 characters per column (column height 203-04 mm.), printed on 21 joined sheets (263 mm. high, sheet lengths ranging from 374 to 443 mm., total printed length 9105 mm., with endpaper at beginning 9290 mm.), carefully backed in recent times, attached at end to a wooden roller. [Nara: 1222-27].

A rare early printed sutra, part of the Karoku-ban edition printed in 1222-27. It has been printed on high-quality thick paper (gampi, or mulberry fibers), and printed in bold, thick strokes, using black sumi ink, typical of Kamakura and Muromachi kasuga-ban printings (kasuga-ban is a general term... More

Six pages of color paintings of species of sweet potatoes. 14 folding leaves. 8vo (267 x 190 mm.), orig. decorated semi-stiff wrappers, stitched as issued, manuscript title label on upper cover. [Japan]: late Edo.

Sweet potatoes are one of the glories of the Japanese table. The author of the text of this finely illustrated manuscript was the Nagasaki resident Tokitane Kohiga, mathematician and scholar of materia medica. The text was written in October 1805, and this is surely a later copy.

The sweet potatoes of Ryukyu (today, Okinawa) are famous. The potatoes came from China and began to be cultivated... More

21 full-page woodcuts. 30; 29; 26; 23; 31 folding leaves. Five vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers (wrappers rather rubbed & frayed), new stitching. Kyoto: Izutsuya Shobei; Edo: Nishimura Uhei, 1697.

First edition of this collection of haikai written by several members of the circle surrounding Matsuo Basho (1644-94), Japan’s best-loved author. The poems were gathered by Taihakudo Torin (d. 1719), a friend and disciple of Basho (there is speculation that Torin was Basho’s nephew or younger brother). In 1696, to prepare for the third anniversary of Basho’s death, Torin retraced Basho’s famous 1689 journey through the main island of Japan, which... More

Seven full-page woodcuts & a few smaller text illus. 49 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. title label on upper cover with title in manuscript, modern stitching. Wakayama: Kasedaya Hiemon et al., 1818.

First edition of Takebe’s translation and commentary of Lorenz Heister’s writings on infections and their treatment. Heister (1683-1758), wrote one of the best and most complete works on surgery of the 18th century. Translated into Japanese, it was enormously successful, introducing Western methods to many Japanese surgeons.

Takebe (1782-1842), a samurai, has included here all of Heister’s writings on infections and has provided a number of his... More

One double-page black & white woodcut. 48 folding leaves. Small 8vo, orig. green wrappers (wrappers a little tired), orig. block-printed title label on upper cover (label soiled), new stitching. [Edo]: Preface dated 1778.

First edition of this rare sharebon, stories revolving around humor and entertainments in the pleasure quarters, most popular in the 1770s and 1780s. This novel, a real “tearjerker,” is one of the masterpieces about the Yoshiwara pleasure quarters (see Cecilia Segawa Seigle, Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan, p. 141). The novel was a blockbuster of its time, focusing on the irreconcilability of romantic love... More