Illustrated manuscript on paper, entitled “Shoryo shuen jojuki” [“Comprehensive Survey of Emperors’ Mausoleums”].
60 double-page (two have flaps) & several single-page illus., using brush & washes of many colors. 30; 31.5; 31 folding leaves. Three vols. Large 8vo (308 x 210 mm.), orig. decorated semi-stiff boards, manuscript titles on upper covers, new stitching. [Japan]: Author’s Prefaces dated 1699 & 1709; Postfaces by Nobutomo Ban dated 1813 & 1841.
A most interesting and attractively illustrated manuscript. In the late 17th century, the brother of Kotaku Hosoi, Chimei (d. ca. 1697), a samurai in service to the Koriyama fiefdom, visited the Nara area and was saddened by the disrepair of the many mausoleums, tombs, and... More