Edo prints
| Design: | Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) | |||||
| Title: | Hokusai manga, Volume 5 | |||||
| Size: | 24.5 x 16.3 cm | |||||
| Posthumous printing from the original woodblocks | ||||||
| Photography: | Jacques Commandeur |
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Originally released in 1816 in Nagoya by publisher Eirakuya Tōshirō, whose firm was called Tōhekidō. This is a later impression of superb print quality of the second edition of the same publisher released by publisher Yoshikawa Hanshichi who acquired the blocks from Eirakuya Tōshirō.
Orange book cover with embossed Chinese 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 |
| 五 | go | five | |
| 編 | hen | volume | Volume 5 |
| 全 | zen | all | All in one |
This is the title page of the second edition of Volume 5 of the Hokusai manga:
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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 |
| 五 | go | five | |
| 編 | hen | volume | Volume 5 |
On the right of the page is the publication date:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 文 | bun | text | |
| 化 | ka | turn oneself into | |
| 丙 | hinoe*) | third calendar sign | |
| 子 | ne | rat | |
| 新 | shin | new | New publication of Bunka, |
| 彫 | chō | carve | year of the rat (i.e., 1816) |
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 |
Seal on the verso of the title page:
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The full contents of Volume 5 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: Yagiya Bobongua store
*) Hinoe combines hi (fire, one of the five elements) and e (yang).