Kagetsujo [Kagetsu's Album]

US$2,680.00

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Kagetsujō [Kagetsu's Album]

Kireiken [Itō, Genbei] [edited by]; Kamo no Suetaka [preface by]; [Kano, Eigaku] [et al.] [illustrated by].

[Japan: privately published, 1836?]. Presumed later printing.

An unusual later issue of one of the finest illustrated erotic books produced in Japan during the late Edo period. Conceived by Itō Genbei (1778–?) under the name Kireiken and illustrated by leading painters of the Maruyama-Shijō, Kanō, Tosa, Gan, Mori, and Yamamoto Revival Schools, the work uses graded monochrome woodblock printing to depict amorous encounters as silhouetted figures. Originally issued in an accordion-folding format, this copy was subsequently remounted as a handscroll. During that process, several of the most explicit illustrations, together with some accompanying text leaves, were selectively excised from throughout the work, almost certainly in an act of censorship. Interestingly, however, the remounted scroll preserves the printed key identifying the artists responsible for each illustration—a feature absent from early impressions. An intriguing witness to the changing reception of Kagetsujō, preserving evidence of both its publication history and its censorship.

One paper handscroll, woodblock-printed on one side. Numerous images and text leaves removed, presumably in the re-mounting process. Light foxing, occasional small marks, and minor soiling internally. Intermittent creases, indicating the work's original accordion-folding format. A few small scrapes to the hyōshi wrapper. 25 x 4.7 cm (approximately 24.5 x 400 cm when unfurled).

Kagetsujo [Kagetsu's Album]
Price: $2,680.00 (USD)