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KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI

Hokusai Manga. Volume 2

Toshiro Katano, Nagoya 1878, 15,5x22,7cm, cousu.

Rare second edition, which can be translated as Hokusai's Sketches, volume 2. 15 volumes were actually published covering Hokusai's work. The first was published in 1814 and the last posthumously in 1878. The final volume is considered apocryphal by some art historians. The volume contains around 40 subjects, most on double-page spreads in black, grey and flesh. It is essential to add that it is not possible to determine with certainty whether this is the first or a later print run, because on this subject there was no difference for the Japanese, and the publisher reprinted volumes as needed, the notion of a first print run being irrelevant to the Japanese book. We do know, however, that the publisher produced a second edition of this book between 1828 and 1878. Later editions do not have the same publisher's name and often have a date, which is not the case for older editions.
Accordion-fold volume, bound by a seam. Yellow diamond-pattern cover with title label and writing in red on a white background. One seam missing. Creasing and rubbing to covers. A little worm work in the margin on 11 leaves. A good, fresh copy.
Hokusai manga deal with a variety of subjects, including scenes of everyday life, war scenes, typically Japanese legends, animals and flowers, and landscapes, both animated and nominal, notably Mount Fuji. It is generally considered that, after a period of intense production, Hokusai selected his sketches very carefully, and even redrew a number of them, arranging them in the order we know today. However, Michener maintains that the layout of the various sketches on a given plate was in fact decided by the engravers and publishers, and not by Hokusai himself. It should be remembered that the Japanese printmaking technique is very close to the original drawing, since the ink drawing was affixed to a piece of wood that the engraver carved out, precisely following the lines of the drawing, which was itself destroyed in the process. This volume contains numerous sketches, animated landscapes, animals, insects, flowers, waves, masks, workers, characters and architectural elements, like a repertoire for drawing.

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