Kitao Masayoshi (1764-1824)
Abbreviated sketches of fish and shellfish (Gyokai ryakuga shiki), 1802
Woodblock printed book, one volume (complete), comprising: frontispiece, 30 double-page illustrations of fish, shellfish, crustaceans, a whale and 2 turtles, followed by a one-page colophon
Signed: 'Keisai hitsu'
Publisher: Suharaya Ichibe
Colophon dated: 1802 (Kyowa 2)
Binding: fukurotoji (pouch binding), blue covers printed with pine trees
Signed: 'Keisai hitsu'
Publisher: Suharaya Ichibe
Colophon dated: 1802 (Kyowa 2)
Binding: fukurotoji (pouch binding), blue covers printed with pine trees
25.8 x 17.8 cm.
Good impression, good colour, some general wear consistent with age and use including some soiling and rubbing to each page especially in the lower sections due to thumbing, also elsewhere. Covers with some wear including surface rubbing and creasing, title slip lacking.
Further images can be provided on request.
Further images can be provided on request.
£ 2,000.00
The earliest printing of this book bears the title Tatsu no miyatsuko (The Servants of the Dragon King of the Sea) and features haiku poems alongside their poet's names above...
The earliest printing of this book bears the title Tatsu no miyatsuko (The Servants of the Dragon King of the Sea) and features haiku poems alongside their poet's names above the illustrations on each page, along with a three-page introduction. Due to its popularity, many alternate printings of this book are known with numerous differences. The present example is one such example which was retitled Gyokai ryakuga shiki (Abbreviated sketches of fish and shellfish) and omits the poems and poet's names along with the introduction. The colophon is the same as that used in the first printing giving the date Kyowa 2 (1802) and the name of the Edo publisher Suharaya Ichibe. In 1813 (Bunka 10), the woodblocks were transferred to the publisher Fukusada Tobe in Osaka and these later editions include a different colophon dated 1813 and with the Osaka publisher's name.
For further reading and an example of the first edition of the book in the collection of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian, go to: https://pulverer.si.edu/node/448/title/1
For a similar printing to the present example (with an alternate title Gyokaifu (Album of fish and shellfish)), in the collection of the National Diet Library, Tokyo, go to: https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/2540213
For an example of the later edition published by Fukusada Tobe in Osaka (1813) in the collection of The British Museum, go to: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1979-0305-0-235
For further reading and an example of the first edition of the book in the collection of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian, go to: https://pulverer.si.edu/node/448/title/1
For a similar printing to the present example (with an alternate title Gyokaifu (Album of fish and shellfish)), in the collection of the National Diet Library, Tokyo, go to: https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/2540213
For an example of the later edition published by Fukusada Tobe in Osaka (1813) in the collection of The British Museum, go to: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1979-0305-0-235