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MASAYOSHI, Keisai
(1764 - 1824)
Three editions of the illustrated book :
Tatsu no miyatsuko  'Servants of the Dragon King'
also published as:
Gyokai fu  'The Fish and Shell Album'
and
Gyokai ryakugashiki  'How to Draw Simple Fish and Shells'
as well as samples of the original printing / key-blocks









A.)   title: Tatsu no miyatsuko
              1st edition, w/h poems; 1802








B.)   title: Gyokai fu; slightly later
           ed., still w/h poems, but poets'
         names removed; dated: 1802
Edition details:

A.) Tatsu no miyatsuko
         ('Servants of the Dragon King')

Signed:                         Keisai hitsu
Sealed:                          Shoshin
Publisher:                    Suhara-ya Ichibei
Dated:                            1802/07 ('early autumn, Kyowa 2')
Size:                               hanshibon (c. 25 x 28 cms)

VIEW illustrations of all three editions, side by side


B.) Gyokai fu
         ('The Fish and Shell Album')

Signed:                         Keisai hitsu
Sealed:                          Shoshin
Publisher:                    Suhara-ya Ichibei
Dated:                            1802/07 ('early autumn, Kyowa 2')
Size:                               hanshibon (c. 25 x 28 cms)

VIEW illustrations of all three editions, side by side


C.) Gyokai ryakuga-shiki
         ('How to Draw Simple Fish and Shells')

Signed:                         Keisai hitsu
Sealed:                          Shoshin
Publisher:                    Suhara-ya Ichibei ?
Dated:                            1813/06 (here from a later printing)
Size:                               hanshibon

VIEW illustrations of all three editions, side by side


D.) The printing blocks, see:

The printing blocks, some explanations

VIEW illustrations of some of the printing blocks,
side by side with the corresponding book pages









C.)   title: Gyokai ryakuga-shiki
    dated: 1813, but printed
          much later; poems removed










D.)   A printing (key-) block
Reference (a selection):

Binyon & Sexton, 'Japanese Colour-Prints', London, 1923; p. 225, no.8.
Jack Hillier, 'The Art of the Japanese Book', 2 vols., London, 1987; pp. 478-82.
C.H. Mitchell, 'The Illustrated Books of the Nanga, Maruyama, Shijo and Other Related Schools of Japan', Los Angeles, 1972; p. 517.
H. Kerlen, 'Catalogue of Pre-Meiji Japanese Books and Maps in Public Collections in the Netherlands, Amsterdam, 1996; no. 471.
ATSUMI Kuniyasu, 'Edo no Kufuu-mono Kuwagata Keisai; Hokusai ni Kesareta Otoko', Geijutu Shinbunsha (publ.), Japan, 1996; pp. 41-45.
(with illustrations of, a.o., two of the printing blocks shown in our gallery archive)

Website link:

NATIONAL DIET LIBRARY, Tokyo
(a comparison between three variant editions, similar to the ones shown in our  Side-by-side listing:  with poems and poets's names,
with poets' names removed and without poems. Thanks to Roger Keyes for the link to the NDL's web site.)

Collections: Javal, Odin, Pulverer, National Diet Library, Vershbow (ex-Maroni, Joseph Gropper), New York Public Library (Spencer, ex-Hayashi), Art Institute of Chicago, Ravicz, a.o.



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