Woodblock-printed throughout in hangul & Chinese characters of different sizes. 350 woodcut illus. 70; 70; 70; 70; 70 folding leaves. Five kwŏn in five vols. (of six). 8vo (254 x 177 mm.), orig. white paper wrappers with printed title-slips, orig. stitching. [Korea]: [late Chosŏn period].

One of two known copies of this anonymous Korean erotic book, which juxtaposes the vernacularized hagiography of Śākyamuni with hundreds of erotic prints showing all manners of sexual intercourse and masturbation, as well as related scenes of courtship and violence. To our knowledge, this is the only known example of a Korean woodblock-printed erotica. Not... More

Scroll (210 x 3690 mm.), endpapers of gold with silk brocade backing, wooden roller. [Japan: late Edo].

This attractive scroll, executed by a highly accomplished artist, comprises of 12 erotic scenes (the well-known “set of 12“ format), in vivid coloring, depicting a range of sexual activities. As in many shunga handscrolls, the paintings feature a sequence of lovemaking positions in no apparent order. The scenes are finely painted with considerable detail, employing much gold, silver, and other metallic pigments. Throughout, the artist has used a fine brush to achieve great detail of fabric, hair, and faces. All the women have... More

Scroll (290 x 5840 mm. including endpapers), silk brocade endpaper at front depicting a pair of Mandarin ducks (symbol for fidelity between two people), wooden core roller. [Japan: late Edo].

A fine erotic scroll with 12 paintings (the well-known “set of 12“ format), in vivid coloring, depicting a range of sexual activities. As in many shunga handscrolls, the paintings feature a sequence of lovemaking positions in no apparent order, with no development, simply presenting a variety of couplings and sexual techniques. All the participants in this scroll have Heian-period hairstyles, and several of the couples are clearly aristocrats. In the... More

Scroll (290 x 4780 mm.), with gold paper inner endpaper at front, wooden core roller. [Japan]: n.d., but late Edo or early Meiji.

A fine example of an erotic scroll, anonymously painted as usual but with great skill. The scroll contains 12 erotic scenes painted on silk (the well-known “set of 12“ format) of men and women engaged in various sexual activities. As in many shunga hand scrolls, the paintings feature a sequence of lovemaking positions in no apparent order.

The figures are drawn to express a fluidity of movement, passion, and pleasure. The accomplished artist has used delicate shading... More

Scroll (320 x 5250 mm.), silk-brocade front outer endpaper, with floral drawing in color at beginning, wooden core roller. [Japan]: after 1823.

The 12 finely rendered erotic drawings present on this scroll, in the famous “set of 12” format, have been attributed on the manuscript label of the scroll’s box to Chōkyōsai Eiri (active 1790s-1801), a little known pupil of Hosoda Eishi (1756-1829), who for some years was an equal rival to Utamaro. Chōkyōsai Eiri produced an album of 13 large-size color woodblock prints, entitled Fumi no kiyogaki [Neat Version of the Love Letter [or] Pure Drawings of... More

16 double-page & four single-page color-printed woodcuts. 13; 11; 9 folding leaves. Three vols. Small 8vo, orig. speckled semi-stiff boards (boards rubbed), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. [Japan, probably Edo]: manuscript inscription dated “1832” at end of each volume.

First edition and very rare; we do not find this book listed in WorldCat or in the Union Catalogue of Japanese Books. The Preface is signed by Akikei (or Akikage) Higashikuni.

This work is an erotic version of Shiki no en, an 18th-century group of songs on the four seasons of love from the Yamada ryu school... More

Three frontis. & 21 double-page color-printed woodblock illus. 16; 12.5; 13.5 folding leaves. 12mo (113 x 80 mm.), orig. decorated semi-stiff wrappers with images of rabbits, snowflakes, & flowers, labels on upper covers with motif of flowers, old stitching. [Japan]: late Edo or early Meiji.

A very rare small-format erotic work, written by Ikkadō Injin 逸桂堂淫人 and illustrated by Kaikōtei Shujin 開好亭主人, both clearly pen names. These volumes are very finely illustrated with the theme of “snow, moon, and flower.”

The artist was very accomplished, and the images are highly complex and skilled. The volumes use almost all... More

14 double-page woodblock illus. 26 folding leaves. 8vo, in orihon (accordion) format, orig. boards (covers a bit worn), orig. block-printed title label on upper cover. [Japan]: 1836.

First edition, early printing, of this famous illustrated book of erotica. “This is the most important printed erotic illustrated book by 14 painters of Kyoto and Osaka, particularly artists of the Maruyama-Shijo and related schools, [including the well-known Kanō Eigaku 狩野永岳, Maruyama Ōshin 円山応震, Tosa Mitsubumi 土佐光文, Gantai 岸岱, and Okamoto Toyohiko 岡本豊彦]…

“It is a work of great subtlety, in terms both of the delicacy and reticence of the scenes of lovemaking... More

Two fine full-page woodcuts. 18.5; 23; 32 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. pale green semi-stiff wrappers, title-slip on upper covers (cover of Vol. I slightly soiled), new stitching. Osaka: Privately Printed for Chōzen dō School, Preface & Afterword dated 1837.

First edition and very rare; we find no copy outside of Japan. Kō (1799-1846) studied Dutch medicine in Nagasaki and was one of von Siebold’s most prominent students. Because of his association with von Siebold, Kō was imprisoned for six months in 1828 and forbidden to practice in Nagasaki. Primarily an ophthalmologist, he also wrote on botany and translated many Dutch... More

Nine double-page, one single-page, & several woodcut illus. in the text, all color-printed, and a number of black & white woodcuts throughout the text. One preliminary leaf pasted-down on the inside upper wrapper, 19 folding leaves, one leaf of ads at end pasted-down on the inside lower wrapper. Small 8vo, orig. wrappers decorated with the characters for “Kiraku” in hiragana, orig. block-printed title labels on upper cover, new stitching. “Ukiyo”: Kirakudo, [late Edo].

First edition of this playful parody of a serious sex manual, with illustrations by Koikawa (1821-1907), one of the leading shunga artists of the late Edo and... More

One double-page woodcut illus. & numerous woodcut illus. in the text. 38 folding leaves. Small 8vo, orig. patterned wrappers (wrappers a little waterstained, some worming), orig. block-printed title label on upper cover, new stitching. Edo: Tsutaya Juzaburo, 1783.

First edition and very rare; this work is a guidebook, with poetic and allusory reviews, to the courtesans and brothels of the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter in Edo. This district served “as a kind of cultural salon where samurai and townsman culture could interact, and the quarter was able to transmit this culture to a wider world thanks to burgeoning links with the... 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