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Abe, Stanley: AN ACCOUNT OF TWO VOYAGES - BACKHOFF AND WAGENER Acharya, Sanjay: Adams, Edward B: Alexander, William & Mason, George: Allen, H. M. ed: Andrews, F. H: ANNINGHE LIUYU DA SHI MU Yuhas, Louise ed: Asahi Shimbun ed: Asian Art Museum: THE ASIATIC JOURNAL AND MONTHLY MISCELLANY VOL II: THIRD SERIES |
HU0JS1 Hu Zhengyan: JUCHIKUSAI SHOGA FU. (Japanese Edition of the Shizhuzhai Shuhua Pu - The Painting Album from the Ten Bamboo Studio). 十竹齋書畫譜 。 胡正言 摹古 。 支那本翻刻. Osaka, 1879. Various paginations of folded leaves, 8 sections in 16 fascicles. 17 illustrations in vols. 1 & 2; 37 in vols. 3 & 4; 26 in vols. 5 & 6; 20 in vols. 7 & 8, 9 & 10, 11 & 12, 13 & 14; and 18 in vols. 15 & 16. 16 vols. 25x15 cm. Butterfly bindings, cloth case. GBP 5,000.00 Japanese version of the 1817 edition of the Shizhuzhai Shuhua Pu. Printed in Osaka and dated Meiji 12 1879; reproduced and somewhat 'tidied up' in this rendition. There is a printed seal on the cover page indicating that the book has been recut (honkoku, Chinese: fanke) based on a Chinese edition (Shinahon honkoku). This is an early impression from the newly recut blocks. It has very good colour and is in near fine condition, with excellent impressions and registration. The collation of editions of the highly-influential Shizhuzhai Shuhua Pu is extraordinarily difficult. Every edition used different sequences and numbers of plates included. The illustrations are arranged in eight sections, here each section with a first and second fascicle - Shuhua (exemplars of painting and calligraphy), Mohua (ink flowers), Guopu (fruit manual), Lingmaopu (bird manual), Lanpu (orchid manual), Zhupu (bamboo manual), Meipu (plum manual), Shipu (stones manual). The illustrations are Hu's designs but, in many cases, they are based on works by famous early masters. Flowers and fruit predominate, along with beautiful multiblock prints of birds, epidendra, bamboo and 'strange stones' (qishi). The illustrations are matched with a text or poem on an adjacent opening. This Japanese edition of the Shizhuzhai Shuhua Pu, dated Meiji 12, is interesting for its effort to capture the delicate colours and quiet beauty of 'Chinese style' as seen by Japanese eyes. It is testament to the ongoing veneration of Chinese culture in Japan. To our mind, given its time of production and publication, it shows how the recently-opened and newly-invigorated Japan was starting to pull ahead of the Chinese. Whilst the two contemporaneous Chinese editions are worthy (if somewhat slavish) copies of the 1817 edition, it is this Japanese edition that has a greater spirit and delicacy. From a bibliographic point of view, given the complex publishing history of the Shizhuzhai, this Japanese edition is perhaps the last meaningful publishing initiative. As mentioned above, the Chinese editions published at the same time are worthy but somewhat unimaginative and unspirited and there was no edition of real note published thereafter. This set retains a traditional 'butterfly' binding, with folded leaves gathered, glued and wrapped at the folds allowing the image to be fully opened but leaving the edges of the leaves loose. Each volume retains its printed titles slip. The original cloth case is somewhat worn with loss of toggles and its title slip has worn with loss. The very occasional loose page within. The whole is in remarkably good condition: a lovely set, beautifully done and testament to the esteem in which this work was held. Now very rare. Subjects: Illustrated Books Rare Books Item 58 in List 214. URL for this record: hanshan.com/?h/HU0JS1.HTM Record produced by Hanshan Tang Books, www.hanshan.com. |  |