Edo prints
Design: | Suzuki Harunobu (1725-1770) | |||||
Title: | Ehon Seirō Bijin Awase Go | |||||
Size: | 30 x 21 cm | |||||
Posthumous printing from newly cut woodblocks | ||||||
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Originally released in 1770 by publisher Funaki Kanosuke.
This reproduction released in 1917 by publisher Tosho Kanko-kai.
Title on the book cover:
Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
青 | sei | Green | Beauties of the green houses |
楼 | rō | tower | |
美 | bi | beautiful | |
人 | jin | person | |
合 | a(waseru) | put together | |
五 | Go | five | Fifth book |
The fifty-four scanned pages of this book are shown below. Each image can be clicked, and then clicked again, to obtain a wonderfully detailed view of the corresponding print and/or text. As indicated by the image on the Introduction page below, the subject of the haiku in each print of this final volume is yuki (snow).
The text ‘‘明和七庚寅年六月吉日’’ in the first before last column (according to Western readers) or second column (according to Japanese readers) of End page 1 translates into ‘‘Meiwa seven, the seventh in the sign of the tiger, the sixth month, on lucky day’’ (i.e., June 1770). This is the original Meiwa era publishing date of the Ehon Seirō Bijin Awase.
The text ‘‘大正六年四月十五日印刷’’ in the last (according to Western readers) or the first (according to Japanese readers) column of End page 2 translates into ‘‘Printed in Taishō six, the fourth month, the fifteenth day’’ (i.e., on April 15, 1917); the text ‘‘四月二十日発行’’ in the next column translates into ‘‘Published in the fourth month, the twentieth day’’ (i.e., on April 20, 1917). These are the printing and publishing dates of the Taishō era reproduction of this series.
A beautiful reproduction by David Bull of the center part of print number 7 in this fifth book can be seen on this page of David Bull’s Mokuankan website.
References
Provenance: The Mokuhankan website of David Bull