Maggs Bros. Ltd.

A fabulous set of gokan preserved with the original printed envelopes (fukuro).

From the late Edo period, gokan emerged as a popular genre of illustrated woodblock printed books. Seen under the umbrella of kusazoshi graphic narratives, gokan are often distinguished by their woodblock printed wrappers where design of the wrappers connects to form an image. In terms of their content, they would often contain retellings of famous stories or recent events. Visually, the text is balanced throughout the page with the illustration, often in incredibly fine detail. These were not luxury books, but cheaply produced books for a mass readership.

As such, and owing to their immense popularity at the time, they are often found in poor condition or incomplete. The present set contains all 6 volumes to the Jidai moyo sasazuru nishiki series, including the original fukuro envelopes issued by the publisher. These, too, are very beautifully printed with attractive designs. In the process of buying a book, readers would often tear off the envelope and discard it, and so any surviving examples are precious. Though we have been able to locate a set of the present series at the National Diet Library in Tokyo, theirs do not appear to have the original envelopes. Clearly a previous owner has carefully preserved this important ephemera, and had a nice folding card case made to keep it all together.

The series itself is a collaboration between writer Gyokujin'en Yukisumi (dates unknown) and ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Yoshitora (exact dates unknown, but active around 1850–80). Across the six volumes the reader is taken on a fantastical journey of through villages along the sea, and are shown samurai battles, evil spirits, ogama giant toads and much more.

Exceedingly rare. One set in NDL, no copies in OCLC.