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[GROTESQUERIE] [Hansui IKKADO^] Utagawa YOSHIUME : Kotowaza HESO NO YADOGAE

[GROTESQUERIE] [Hansui IKKADO^] Utagawa YOSHIUME. Kotowaza HESO NO YADOGAE. N.P., N.D. [O^saka, Wataya Kihei, c. 1850s] 3 vols. 17.6 x 11.8 cm. Original covers, modified orihon binding. Working from a group of rebound images at the Yenching Library and Harvard and descriptions of s few volumes in the Library of Congress, it would appear that our set here is quite incomplete, having 43 double page images, while the Harvard example has over 160. That said, the volumes, despite there publisher's covers, appear to be quite arbitrary in their ordering of pages. Perhaps volumes were assembled ad hoc from whatever images were at hand or still available by the time these little volumes were sold. The conceit of the work is use of comically grotesque images to play upon old sayings and the like. All the images in the Harvard collection have been digitized and can be seen at: http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/7266014?n=154&printThumbnails=no Images such as these were extremely popular in Late Edo, early Meiji Japan, but, being largely ignored by institutions and collectors, and being unpreserved for that reason, they are seldom seen. Wonderful in that these "scraps" preserve the original covers and format, they are incomplete and priced accordingly. Good condition overall with the original title lables, good colors and good impressions., Good

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