• Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Block cutter: Yokokawa Takejirō [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1845 – 1863), seal Hori Take [彫竹]. Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. C. 1845 – 1847). Title: Book of an incoming ship [入船帳] (Irifune-chō). Series: Comparison of Eight Books of Proficiency and Eloquence [口も手も美立八帳] (Kuchimo temo mitate hatchō). Date seal and aratame censor seal: 1856 (Ansei 3). Signed: Toyokuni ga in toshidama cartouche. Media: Untrimmed fan print (uchiwa-e), 231 x 300 mm. Provenance: The Collection of Paul F. Walter, Christie's, New York, 2017, lot 341; sold together with 5 other fan prints for $25,000. Before: Israel Goldman, Japanese Prints, Catalogue 11, 2005, no. 37. Ref: [LIB-1693.2018] The Collection of Paul Walter. — NY: Christie's, 2017, p. 363. Ref: Israel Goldman, Catalogue 2018, № 51: "Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) A Beauty Seated in a Boat. From the series Mitate hatcho (A Parody of Eight Books). 1856. Fan print. 23.3 x 30 cm. Provenance: Israel Goldman, Japanese Prints, Catalogue 11, 2005, no. 37, The Collection of Paul F. Walter, Christie's, New York, 2017, lot 341. Fine impression, colour and condition. The title contains the saying: “Kuchi mo hatcho te mo hatcho (As quick with one’s hand as one’s tongue)." Special thanks to Horst Graebner for the detailed description.
  • Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Kunisada ga [国貞画] in a red double-gourd cartouche. Publisher: Iseya Sōemon [伊勢屋惣右衛門] (Japanese, c. 1776 – 1862). Date seal and kiwame censor seal: 1840 (Tenpō 11). Media: Untrimmed fan print (uchiwa-e), 227 x 293 mm. Title: Benzaiten Shrine at Honjō Block One [ひとつ目乃弁天] (Hitotsume no Benten). Provenance: The Collection of Paul F. Walter, Christie's, New York, 2017, lot 341; sold together with 5 other fan prints for $25,000. Before: Christie's, New York, 1997, lot 93 ($5,520). Ref: [LIB-1693.2018] The Collection of Paul Walter. — NY: Christie's, 2017, p. 363. Ref: Israel Goldman, Catalogue 2018, № 31: "Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) A Woman Reading a Letter by the Light of a Lantern. Hitotsume no Benten (One-eyed Benten). 1840. Fan print. Provenance: Japanese Prints, Paintings and Screens, Christie's, New York, 1997, lot 93 ($5,520), The Collection of Paul F. Walter, Christie's, New York, 2017, lot 341. Fine impression and colour. Expertly restored wormholes in the lower margin." Markus Sesko comment regarding the series title: "Some time between in the latter half of the 17th century, blind acupuncturist Sugiyama Waichi (1614–1694) cured a neurotic disease afflicting Shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. Tsunayoshi asked Sugiyama what he would like as a reward, he answered that all that he would really desire was just one functioning eye. Now here we arrive at a wordplay. “One eye,” as you know, is Hitotsu-me in Japanese. As Tsunayoshi obviously could not reward Sugiyama with an eye, he gave him the entire first block of the Honjō neighbourhood in Edo, measuring about 1.2 ha. So, Honjō Block One is Honjō Hitotsu-me in Japanese as me not only means “eye,” but also “number.” Sugiyama moved there, but as he was praying to Benzaiten enshrined in the Enoshima-jinja southwest of Kamakura, Tsunayoshi gave Sugiyama permission to erect a small shrine on his new premises that was then dedicated to Benzaiten as well. To spare the old blind man the long trip so to speak. This shrine was named Honjō Hitotsu-me Benzaiten Shrine, short Hitotsu-me Benten, meaning the “Benzaiten Shrine at Honjō Block One.” That is, the label in the print refers to this context, i.e., location, not to a one-eyed Benzaiten. Sugiyama also had some rock formations of the “original” Benzaiten Shrine at Enoshima copied at his place, which was named Iwaya (い王や) (see picture attached). The lantern the woman is holding in the print is inscribed “Imuya” (い無や). Usually, the character mu (無) is not read wa in replacing a syllable, so maybe Imuya can be attributed to artistic freedom on part of Utagawa Kunisada, referring to the local Iwaya garden?"
  • Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi [歌川 國芳] (Japanese, 1798 – 1861) Publisher: British Museum provides for the title as Enkyoku-zoroi [艶曲揃] (Set of Voluptuous Melodies) and the publisher as Sanpei. Indeed, 三平 (Sanpei) was a wholesale fan shop at the end of the Edo period. However, Andreas Marks identifies the publisher’s seal as 三平 Mihei = Mikawaya Heiroku (1848-56), a member of the Fan Producing Guild (AM 11-016|325a). Block carver: Hori Take [彫竹]

    Signed: Ichiyosai Kuniyoshi ga in a red cartouche and sealed with paulownia (kiri mon).

    Date seal and double nanushi censor seals: Fuku & Muramatsu, 1853 (Kaei 6, 2nd month).

    Size: Uchiwa-e (untrimmed fan print) 229 x 294 mm.

    Provenance: The Collection of Paul F. Walter, Christie's, New York, 2017, lot 338; sold together with 10 other fan prints for $27,500. Before: Christie's, New York, 1994, lot 145 ($4,830). Ref: [LIB-1693.2018] The Collection of Paul Walter. — NY: Christie's, 2017, p. 361. Ref: Israel Goldman, Catalogue 2018, № 41: "Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) A Woman on a Terrace Dancing with a Fan. From the series Enkyoku zoroi (Collection of Charming Music). 1853. Fan print. 22.9 x 29.4 cm. Provenance: Japanese Prints, Paintings and Screens, Christie's, New York, 1994, lot 145 ($4,830); The Collection of Paul F. Walter, Christie's, New York, 2017, lot 338. Fine impress." Known prints in this series:

    SVJP-0251.2018

     
  • Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. C. 1845 – 1847). Date seal: [子五] Kaei 5, 5th month (5/1852). Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画] in a red toshidama cartouche. Title: Actor Bandō Takesaburō I as clerk Seijūrō [手代清十郎] (left) and Actor Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Kenkaya Gorōkichi [喧嘩屋五郎吉] (right) in the play Musume ōgi tsui no tatehiki [娘扇一対侠贔屓 (むすめおうぎついのたてひき)] performed at the Nakamura theatre [中村座], in Edo (Tokyo). The playbill for this performance can be found at MFA (Boston) # 11.28042, 11.28285, 11.28286: Actors: Bandō Takesaburō I (初代坂東竹三郎) (Japanese, 1832 – 1877); other names: Shinshi, Shinsui V, Bandō Hikosaburō V [五代目坂東彦三郎], Bandō Tsurunosuke I. Ichikawa Kodanji IV [市川小團次] (Japanese, 1812 – 1866); other names: Ichikawa Yonejūrō I, Ichikawa Yonezō III, Ichikawa Eizō.

    Similar images were then used for the series Seven flourishing plants on lanterns for summer evenings [涼調珍盛の七草] (Suzumi chōchin sakari no nanakusa) published by Ibaya Senzaburō in 1852 (Kaei 5), 6th month.

    Bandō Takesaburō I (carved by Yokokawa Takejirō): https://collections.mfa.org/objects/219360

    Actor Ichikawa Kodanji IV (carved by Nakamura Tōkichi): https://collections.mfa.org/objects/477146.

     
  • Description: Hardcover volume, 35 x 25.1 cm, ochre cloth with gilt lettering and vignette to spine; pp.: [1-6] 7-389 [3 blank], total 196 leaves, 16 illustrations in colour, 1067 in b/w; in a pictorial slipcase 36 x 26 cm. Title-page: The | Japanese | Pillar | Print | Hashira-e | — | Jacob Pins | Foreword by Roger Keyes | {publisher’s device} | Robert G. Sawers Publishing | 5 SOUTH VILLAS | LONDON NW I 9 BS || Edition: Limited edition of 1000 copies, this is copy № 520. Contributors: Jacob Otto Pins (German-Israeli, 1917 – 2005) Roger Keyes (American, 1942 – 2020)
  • Two volumes in blue cloth, 30.3 x 25.2 cm each, in a matching slipcase 31.5 x 25.5 x 6.5 cm, with silver lettering. Vol. 1: Text, pp.: [1-8] 9-502 [2 blank]; Vol. 2: Plates, 240 unpaginated pages (721 entries). Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 1725 – 1770) David B. Waterhouse (British, 1936 – 2017)
  • Description: Hardbound 24 x 16 x 5 cm, green cloth with gilt lettering to spine, in pictorial dust jacket. A revised re-print of L'Œuvre de Gavarni par J. Armelhault et E. Bocher. — Paris: Librairie des bibliophiles, 1873, with essays in English. Title-page: GAVARNI | CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ | OF THE GRAPHIC WORK | BY | J. ARMELHAULT & E. BOCHER | A REVISION OF THE 1873 EDITION | WITH ESSAYS IN ENGLISH | BY GORDON N. RAY | AND ROBERT J. WICKENDEN | AND SIXTY-ONE NEW PLATES | SAN FRANCISCO | ALAN WOFSY FINE ARTS | – | 2004 || Pagination: [1-4] 5-104, [i-v] vi-xiii [3] 1-627 [628]; total 374 leaves. Contributors: Paul Gavarni [Sulpice Guillaume Chevalier] (French, 1804 – 1866) Marie Joseph François Mahérault [J. Armelhault] (French, 1795 – 1879) Emmanuel Bocher (French, 1835 – 1919) Gordon Norton Ray (American, 1915 – 1986) Robert John Wickenden (British-American, 1861 – 1931)
  • Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画] in a red toshidama cartouche. Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, c. 1815 – 1869). Block carver: Yokokawa Takejirō [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1845 – 1863); seal Hori Take [彫竹]. Double nanushi censor seals: Mera & Murata (1847-50). Title: Cool Breeze on Tenpōzan Hill in Naniwa [浪花天保山の涼] (Naniwa Tenpōzan no ryō). An uncut fan print (uchiwa-e), depicting a gentleman (most probably kabuki actor Nakamura Utaemon IV) holding a pipe with the view of Tenpōzan Hill [天保山] in Naniwa (Osaka) in the background. A distinctive structure on the left is the Sumiyoshi Lantern [住吉高灯篭] (Sumiyoshi takadōrō), which was destroyed by a typhoon in 1950. The character 翫 – moteasobu – on the gentleman’s robe means "take pleasure, play an instrument". Nakamura Utaemon IV [中村歌右衛門] (Japanese, 1796 – 1852); other names: Nakamura Shikan II, Nakamura Tsurusuke I, Nakamura Tōtarō. The character is visually similar to a gentleman drinking tea on a veranda under the shining moon from the series ‘Moon, Sun, Stars’ [月日星] (Getsu hi hoshi), see SVJP-0211-1.2016: The Moon. Utagawa Kunisada. Fan print triptych. Jitsu getsu sei no uchi. Moon. Circa 1850. As noted by Horst Graebner, the gentleman also resembles the character on another Kunisada's actor print, published in 1852 (Waseda University Cultural Resources Database № 114-0232):    
  • Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi [歌川 國芳] (Japanese, 1798 – 1861). Publisher: Izuzen (fl. c. 1800s – 1840s) (Marks 06-029|U103b). Signed: Ichiyosai Kuniyoshi ga in a red cartouche and sealed with paulownia crest (kiri mon). Double nanushi censor seals: Fuku & Muramatsu, 1849-51 (Kaei 2 – Kaei 4). Young woman in front of the western-style framed portrait of Soga Tokimune, who is depicted after having his kusazuri ripped off by Asahina Saburō. The series of fan prints A Collection of Pictures in Modern Style [今様額面合] (Imayô gakumen awase) can be found at Kuniyoshi Project. Soga Tokimune, a.k.a. Soga no Gorō [曾我時致] (Japanese, 1174 – 1193), a historical figure and a character of an epic tale Soga Monogatari [曽我物語] (A Tale of Soga Brothers). Asahina Saburō [朝比奈 三朗], a.k.a. Asahina Yoshihide [朝比奈 義秀] is also mentioned in the Soga Monogatari. Kusazuri [草摺] (くさずり) – tassets on a suit of a samurai's armour. Another Kuniyoshi's print with the same characters: Goro Tokimune and Asahina Saburo; Series: The Tale of Soga Brothers; Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō; Date: 1843-1845; Size: Vertical Ōban: 359 x 245 mm.
  • Artist: Utagawa Yoshitsuya [歌川 芳艶] (Japanese, 1822 – 1866). Publisher: Kojimaya Jūbei [小島屋重兵衛] (Japanese, c. 1797 – 1869). Date seal and double nanushi censor seals: Kunigasa & Yoshimura, Kōka 5 (1849). Signed: Ichieisai Yoshitsuya ga [英斎芳艶画] in a red double gourd cartouche. Two men are fishing with a net off the coast of Shinagawa, in the Edo Bay.
  • Artist: Utagawa Kunimaru [歌川国丸] (Japanese, 1794 – 1829). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋 仙三郎] (fl. 1815 – 1869). Date-kiwame seal: Bunsei 10 (1827). Signed: Ichiensai Kunimaru ga [一円斎国丸画]. Play: Chūshingura [忠臣蔵] (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers), 11th act, Night Battle [十一段目夜討之図]. Act XI: The Attack on Kō no Moronao Mansion. Kō no Moronao [高 師直] (Japanese, d. 1351). Ref: Ako City Museum of History Inscription on the soba peddler box: Nihachi soba udon [二八そば うどん] –  twice eight soba and udon (16 mon per serving).
  • Exterior: 4to, 27.3 x 18 cm, quarter black morocco over marbled boards, double gilt fillet border, spine with raised bands, compartments framed in gilt with gilt fleurons, black label lettered in gilt; marbled endpapers. Inscription to half-title in the bottom: no 411. Bookplate to front pastedown. Title-page: LES | PRISONS DE PARIS | HISTOIRE, TYPES, MŒURS, MYSTÈRES | PAR | MAURICE ALHOY ET LOUIS LURINE | ÉDITION ILLUSTRÉE. | {vignette} | PARIS — 1846 | PUBLIÉ PAR GUSTAVE HAVARD | 24, RUE DES MATHURINS-SAINT-JACQUES. || Printer: Lacrampe et Comp. Collation: 4to; π2 a4 1-684 χ2; total 280 leaves and 34 leaves of plates. Pagination: first and last leaves blank; [2 -h.t./imprint.] [2 - t.p./blank] [2 dedication/blank] [i intro] ii-vi, [1] 2-544 [2 - list of plates/advert.] [2 - contents/blank]; total 560 pages, plus 34 wood-engraved plates, incl. a frontispiece by Laisne after Bertall, and numerous in-text woodcuts. Provenance: Bookplate of Selim Hippolyte Ansart (French, 1829 – 1897), commissar of police in the Second Empire and shortly after (chef de la police municipaie ; chevalier du 13 août 1867; vingt-trois ans de service effectif). Authors: Philadelphe-Maurice Alhoy (French, 1802 – 1856) Louis Lurine (French, 1812 – 1860) Artists: Bertall [ Bertal; Charles Albert d’Arnoux (French, 1820 – 1882) Jules [Jean-Baptiste] David (French, 1808–1892) Charles-François Pinot (French, 1817 – 1879) Eustache Lorsay [French, Eugène Lampsonius] (1822 – 1871) Pierre Édouard Frère (French, 1819 – 1886) Charles-Édouard de Beaumont (French, 1819 – 1888) Engravers Laisné Adèle / Aglaé / Alfred (French, fl. 1835 – 1868) Louis Dujardin (French, 1808 – 1859) François Rouget (Belgian, c. 1825 – ?) Janet-Lange [Ange-Louis Janet] (French, 1815 – 1872) Jacques Adrien Lavieille (French, 1818 – 1862) Timms (French, fl. c. 1839 – 1865) Félix Leblanc (French, 1823 – ?) Émile Montigneul (French, fl. 1840 – 1850)  
  • Title: Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum: Ukiyo-e Prints [東京国立博物館図版目録 | 浮世絵版画編] (Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan zuhan mokuroku | Ukiyoe hanga hen); Publisher: Tokyo National Museum [東京国立博物館] (Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan). Three volumes, 26.3 x 18.7 cm, uniformly bound in black cloth with white characters to front cover and spine. Title-page: ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUES OF | TOKYO NATIONAL MUSEUM | UKIYO-E PRINTS | <1 (2, 3) > | 東京国立博物館図版目録 | 浮世絵版画編 | < 上 (中, 下) > || Volume 1 [上]:  unpaginated 1 t.p., 2 colour plates, 1 contents, 70 (1-1354) – b/w plates, 1 + 48 paginated leaves (1-95 [96]) – text. Volume 2 [中]: unpaginated 1 t.p., 2 colour plates, 1 contents, 67 (1355-2493) – b/w plates + 33 paginated leaves (1-65 [66]) – text. Volume 3 [下]: unpaginated 1 t.p., 2 colour plates, 1 contents, 83 (2494-3926) – b/w plates + 35 paginated leaves (1-69 [70]) – text. Black and white photomechanical reproduction of almost four thousand woodblock prints with titles by the artist and in chronological order.
  • Paperback, 21.5 x 13.6 cm, red and white original wrappers with black lettering, barcode label to front, previous owner’s black ink ms to h.t. Rene Shekerjian; pp.: [i-vii] viii-xxvi[1-3] 4-158 (total 184 pp.). Title-page: Morphology | of the | Folktale | by | V. Propp | First Edition Translated by Lawrence Scott with an Introduction by Svatava Pirkova-Jacobson | Second Edition Revised and Edited with a Preface by Louis A. Warner/New Introduction by Alan Dundes | University of Texas Press • Austin and London || Serial title: American Folklore Society Bibliographical and Special Series | Volume 9/Revised Edition/1968 | [blank] Indiana University Research Center in Anthropology, Folklore, | and Linguistics | Publication 10/Revised Edition/1968 || Edition: 7th paperback printing. Contributors: Владимир Яковлевич Пропп [Vladimir Propp] (Russian, 1895 – 1970) For other editions, see [LIB-1710.2019] В. Я. Пропп. Исторические корни волшебной сказки (2-е изд.) — Л.: Изд-во ЛГУ, 1986; [LIB-3184.2023] В. Я. Пропп. Исторические корни волшебной сказки (1-е изд.) — Л.: Изд-во Ленинградского ун-та, 1946, and [LIB-1718.2019] В. Я. Пропп. Морфология сказки / Серия: Вопросы поэтики, вып. XII. — Л.: Academia, 1928.  
  • Hardcover, 22.2 x 14.6 cm, quarter black cloth, pictorial boards, lettering to spine; pp.: [2] 3-253 [3], collated 8vo: 1-168, total 128 leaves plus portrait frontispiece. Title-page: Дж. Д. СЭЛИНДЖЕР | ПОВЕСТИ | НАД ПРОПАСТЬЮ | ВО РЖИ | ВЫШЕ СТРОПИЛА, | ПЛОТНИКИ | РАССКАЗЫ | ХОРОШО ЛОВИТСЯ | РЫБКА-БАНАНКА | ЧЕЛОВЕК, КОТОРЫЙ | СМЕЯЛСЯ | ГОЛУБОЙ ПЕРИОД | ДЕ ДОМЬЕ-СМИТА | ЛАПА-РАСТЯПА | ПЕРЕВОД С АНГЛИЙСКОГО | И ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ | Р. РАЙТ-КОВАЛЕВОЙ | ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО ЦК ВЛКСМ | «МОЛОДАЯ ГВАРДИЯ», 1965 || T.p. verso: […] J. D. Salinger | The Catcher in the Rye | Raise high the Roof Beam, Carpenters | A Perfect Day for Bananafish | The Laughing Man | De Daumier — Smith’s Blue Period | Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut | Художник Б. Жутовский | (В оформлении использован фрагмент картины | американского художника Э. Уайеса) || Print run: 115,000 copies. Contributors: [Джером Дэвид Сэлинджер] Jerome David Salinger (American, 1919 – 2010) Райт-Ковалёва, Рита [Черномордик, Раиса Яковлевна] (Russian, 1898 – 1988) Жутовский, Борис Иосифович (Russian, 1932 – 2023) «Э. Уайес» – [Эндрю Уайет] Andrew Wyeth (American, 1917 – 2009)