Physical description: Picture Book (ehon), complete in three volumes; each 258 × 182 mm (ōhon), a three-volume set in traditional Japanese fukuro-toji (袋綴じ) — 4-hole stab binding with green silk thread — each volume bound in cream torinoko paper embossed with gauffrage, stencilled in gilt with Genji-mon and stylized aoi (葵, wild ginger) leaves; vertical title slips in brown silk, inscribed in brush with volume titles:
- Volume 1, Moon (Tsuki, 月): 16 folded pages, including nine double-page illustrations.
- Volume 2, Snow (Yuki, 雪): 13 folded pages, including one single-page and seven double-page illustrations.
- Volume 3 Flowers (Hana, 花): 12 folded pages, including one single-page and seven double-page illustrations.
Woodblock-printed in colour with black lacquer-style printing and karazuri (embossing) on washi paper); text in printed calligraphy.
The title of the edition is 艶紫娯拾余帖, transliterated as Enshi gojūyo jō by Timothy Clark (2013) and as Enshi gojūyojō by Rhiannon Paget (in A. Marks, 2012). Their English translations differ markedly:
(1) Amorous Murasaki Finds Pleasure in Fifty and More Chapters (Clark, 2013)
(2) Fifty-four Enchanting Purple Chapters (Paget/Marks, 2012)
The Museum of Fine Arts (Boston) provides a third version, closer to Clark’s: Enshi gojû yojô (Amorous Murasaki Finds Pleasure in Fifty-some Chapters).
Enshi gojūyojō (艶紫娯拾余帖) is an illustrated erotic parody (shunpon) based on A Rustic Genji by a Fraudulent Murasaki (偐紫田舎源氏, Nise Murasaki inaka Genji), a late-Edo gōkan (合巻) by Ryūtei Tanehiko.
Author: Ryūtei Tanehiko [柳亭種彦] (Japanese, 1783–1842)
Signed: Minamoto no Mitsukiyo (源 光清)
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川国貞], a.k.a. Toyokuni III [三代豊国] (Japanese, 1786–1864)
Signed: 不器用 又平 画 (Bukiyō Matahei ga, with red double-gourd seal); Paget provides the reading as Matabei.
Place of Publication: Edo (Tokyo)
Date: c. 1835 (Tenpō 6)
Publisher: Konseidō
References:
1) Shunga: Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art / Timothy Clark et al. — London: British Museum Press; Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2013; p. 237, №64. LIB-1473.2014
2) Marks, Andreas. Genji’s World in Japanese Woodblock Prints. — Claremont, Calif.: Scripps College & Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2012, pp. 54-67. LIB-3517.2026
3) MFA Boston, Accession Number 2007.63.1-3
Note: As Clark’s book was published after Marks’s, we have adopted the former title.
Additional Information
| Collection | Erotica , Japanese prints and drawings , Library |
|---|---|
| Type / Purpose | Book , Ehon [絵本] Picture book |
| Period | 19 AD , Early 19th century , Edo period [江戸時代] (1603–1868) , Tenpō era [天保] (1830–1844) |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Media/Technique | Paper , Washi paper , Woodblock print (nishiki-e) , gauffrage (空摺り, karazuri) |
| Binding | Japanese-style binding (fukuro-toji) |
| Size | 8vo |
| Genre | Erotic Prints (Shunga, 春画) , Genji-e [源氏絵] |
| Subject | 19th century , A Rustic Genji by a Fraudulent Murasaki [偐紫田舎源氏] Nise Murasaki inaka Genji , Edo period , Ehon [絵本] Picture book , Erotic books , Erotic illustration , Erotica , Genji-e [源氏絵] , Humour , Japan , Parody , Picture story , Prince Genji [光源氏] Hikaru Genji , Sex , Shunga , The Tale of Genji [源氏物語] Genji monogatari |
| Creation / Publishing year | 1835 , Tenpō 6 |
| Edition | 1st edition |
| Location | BOX JB-03 |
| Acquisition year | 2025 |
