Edo prints
| Design: | Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) | |||||
| Title: | Hokusai manga, Volume 12 | |||||
| Size: | 24.5 x 16.0 cm | |||||
| Posthumous printing from the original woodblocks | ||||||
| Photography: | Jacques Commandeur |
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Originally released around 1834 in Nagoya by publisher Eirakuya Tōshirō, whose firm was called Tōhekidō. This is the third edition released by the same publisher on 1 September 1878.
Purple book cover with embossed repeated diamond shaped pattern.
Title printed in red on a white slip on the book cover:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 葛 | katsu | arrowroot | |
| 飾 | shika | decorate | Katsushika |
| 為 | i | change | |
| 一 | itsu | one | one year old again |
| 遺 | i | leave behind | |
| 墨 | boku | black ink | brushwork |
| 北 | hoku | north | |
| 斎 | sai | room | |
| 漫 | man | random | Random sketches |
| 画 | ga | drawing | of Hokusai |
| 十 | jū | ten | |
| 二 | ni | two | |
| 編 | hen | volume | Volume 12 |
| 全 | zen | all | All in one |
This is the title page of the third edition of Hokusai manga Volume 12:
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Volume title in the large middle column of this title page:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 北 | hoku | north | |
| 斎 | sai | room | |
| 漫 | man | random | Random sketches |
| 画 | ga | drawing | of Hokusai |
| 十 | jū | ten | |
| 二 | ni | two | |
| 編 | hen | volume | Volume 12 |
On the right of the page is the date that the blocks were cut:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 天 | ten | heaven | |
| 保 | ho | preserve | |
| 甲 | kinoe*) | 11th calendar sign | |
| 午 | uma | horse | Blocks cut in Tenpō, |
| 刻 | koku | carve | year of the horse (i.e., 1834) |
and the firm name of the publisher is on the left:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 尾 | bi | tail | |
| 陽 | yō | positive | |
| 東 | tō | east | |
| 壁 | heki | wall | Tōhekidō |
| 堂 | dō | temple | of Biyō |
This is the seal on the verso of the title page of this volume:
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The full contents of Volume 12 of the Hokusai manga can be viewed on the website dedicated to the Gerhard Pulverer Collection here, as well as in the book by Forrer (2014) containing photographic reproductions of all fifteen Hokusai manga volumes, including explanations of each image in French.
References
- Dalon, Laure, Nagata, Seiji, Negishi, Mika, Takemura, Makoto, Okuda, Atsuko (2014). Hokusai. Paris, Grand Palais, Galeries Nationales, 1er octobre 2014 - 18 janvier 2015. Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux.
- Forrer, Matthi (1985). Eirakuya Tōshirō, publisher at Nagoya. A contribution to the history of publishing in 19th century Japan. Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben.
- Forrer, Matthi (2010). Hokusai. Munich: Prestel Verlag.
- Forrer, Matthi (2014). Hokusai. La Manga. L’Édition Complète Commentée (2 volumes in slipcase). Paris: Editions Hazan.
- Forrer, Matthi, Gulik, Willem R. van, and Kaempfer, Heinz M. (1982). Hokusai and his school: paintings, drawings and illustrated books. Leiden: Society for Japanese Arts and Crafts.
Provenance: Utagawa123
*) Kinoe combines ki (wood, one of the five elements) and e (yang).