SHIKI NO HANA: FLOWERS OF THE FOUR SEASONS.

Kyoto 1907-8, Yamada Unsodo. Accordion folded, 9 of 10 vol. set, covers worn, chipped, contents very good, clean, sound, ca. 19 x 28 cm., prints open to ca. 37.5 x 18 cm., woodcut printed in color by hand on hand-made paper. R A R E . . *** **** *** . . . ONE OF THE MOST STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL JAPANESE BOTANICALS . . . OF THE MEIJI PERIOD . . . PRINTED ENTIRELY BY HAND ON WOODBLOCK USING WASHI PAPER . . THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS JAPANESE BOTANICALS EVER DONE . . REPRESENTING THE FOUR SEASONS, ITS FLOWERS & FRUITING TREES . . * A most superb example of the best in Japanese period polychrome woodblock printing. Per Bartlett [below]: "The work was published just a century after it was begun. It is so extensive and deals with so many more plants than the conventional 'Flowers of the four seasons' of most artists that it is botanical as well as artistic in conceptions." . THE SET: The set was issued in 10 volumes, displaying seasonal flowers and fruits. . *** THE ARTIST: The artist Sakai [1761-1828] served in the Imperial court and was the son of a Daimyo of Himeiji in Harima province. He painted this work from living specimens, and was assisted by Suzuki who supplemented the work. . Upon Sakai's death, the work was continued and finished by Nakano [1833-1892]. He rounded out the work to contain some 1000 examples, then it was published for the first time in 1908. . The work is so extensive that it could be considered a Japanese flora if it were not entirely unclassified and without text except for a table of contents. . The work contains a profusion of stunningly beautiful color woodblock-printed flowers as well as fruits & fruiting trees, illustrated in Deluxe large Oban size. . The Co-painters/artists were Suzuki Sonoichi and Nakano Sonoaki. [See Roberts below for more on all the painters] . *** COLLATION OF THE BOOKS: The title pages list the names and numbers of illustrations found in each volume. The complication arises in the method of counting the full-page v.s.single page prints. . This set contains a total of 206 individual prints in all, 193 are double-page, 13 are single-page. The list of plates counts pages even though two pages equal a single print per above. Suffice to say the below volumes are complete as issued. The book calls for 208 pages of plates, our count is correct as we are counting double-page + single page prints. . Collation of Each Volume: . HARU: SPRING: 2 Volumes: 1. Title page, list of 49 plates Parts 1-2 [2 vols., unnumbered plates] total is 76 plates 1. 24 double page + 1 single page plates= 25 prints in all 2. 21 double page + 6 single page = 27 prints in all [all unnumbered] . * NATSU: Summer: 4 Volumes: Parts 1-4 1. Title page, list of 89 plates . plates 1-20, 16 double page + 4 single + 20 in all 2. plates 21-43, 22 double page plates 3. plates 44-66, 22 double page plates 4. plates 67-89, 22 double page plates . * AKI: AUTUMN: 3 Volumes: Parts 1-3: 1. Title page, list of 70 plates . plates 1-23=22 double page +1 single page=23 prints in all 2. plates 24-46 = 22 double page prints 3. plates 47-69 + 22 double + 1 single page=23 plates in all . * FUYU: WINTER: Not present. . *** . SIZE OF THE BOOKS: The cover size is 18.8 x 27.7 cm., a double-page print from margin to margin is 37.5 x 27.7 cm., a bit larger than "Oban" size. The single-page is 18.8 x 27.7 cm., or a bit larger than "Chuban" size. . *** Due to the exceptional beauty of the color prints in this work, complete copies are exceptionally difficult to find. Many have been broken and individually framed. This set lacks the winter single volume, which as the least examples. The most lavishly illustrated volumes are spring, summer & autumn. The set is sold "as is," incomplete. . *** By & large a most impressive & beautifully color-illustrated botanica japonica. . *** REFERENCES: . H. Bartlett: JAPANESE BOTANY DURING THE PERIOD OF WOODBLOCK PRINTING, pp.243-4, exhibit 103 & figure 94. * L. Brown: BLOCK PRINTING AND BOOK ILLUSTRATION IN JAPAN for details on Sakai and his son et al., pp 60-61. * Laurance P. Roberts.: A DICTIONARY OF JAPANESE ARTISTS, he devotes considerable space on p.47. Sakai published two important books on Korin. . *** . .