1791 Japanese Yamato Travel Guide Edo JAPAN Woodblock Print Samurai Illustrated



An exceedingly rare, 18th century set of handwritten woodblock prints of scenic tourist areas in Edo during the mid to late Edo period bound in the “fukurotoji (variously translated as “bound-pocket,” or “pouch” binding)” style (Keio). This travel guide was authored by Shunchōsai Takehara with multiple illustrators and is titled ‘Yamato Meisho Zue’ (Pictorial guide to scenic spots in Yamato). The work is a collection of shrines, temples, and historical sites in and around Yamato (now Nara) with simple sentences and illustrations such as birds-eye views and custom drawings of scenery. It was published in response to the popularization of travel.



Consumers of meisho zue did not use them as travel guidebooks, but rather as stimulants to engage in a premodern mode of virtual travel, by which they enjoyed vicarious experiences of place without the attendant corporeal and economic drawbacks of physical travel. … Shunchōsai’s depiction of the Fourth Avenue Riverbed was meant to transport the reader to this place, not actually but virtually (Goree).



This book is a part of the “Famous Places of Japan” series that begins with a picture and introduces famous places of Kinki Region of Japan with pictures. In addition to historical sites, it provides easy-to-understand explanations of festivals, customs, and special products, combined with detailed and realistic illustrations based on local interviews.



This rare, 1791 travel guide of woodblock prints contains 26 double- and 1 single-page illustrations including house scenery, samurai, commoners, city and mountain views, and more!



Item number: #14065

Price: $499



TAKEHARA, Shunchōsai



An Illustrated Guide to the noted places of Yamato (大和名所圖會卷之六) Yamato meisho zue



Osaka: Takahashi Heisuke 高橋平助, Kansei 3 [1791].



Details:

Collation: Complete;

27 illustrations

References:

Kazuko Hioki; Characteristics of Japanese Block Printed Books in the Edo Period: 1603 – 1867.

Robert Goree; Meisho Zue and the Mapping of Prosperity in Late Tokugawa Japan

Keio University, Japanese Culture Through Rare Books

Kansai University in 2015 (Naniwa Osaka Research) [Research representative: Yoichi Hase].

Iwanami, Kokusho So Mokuroku 62259;

Language: Japanese

Binding: Softcover; tight & secure

Size: ~10.25in X 7in (26cm x 18cm)



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