CONTENTS
| PAGE | ||
| PREFACE | [11] | |
| GLOSSARY | [19] | |
| CHAPTER | ||
| [I.] | PRELIMINARY SURVEY | [23] |
| [II.] | CONDITIONS PRECEDING THE RISE OF PRINTDESIGNING | [47] |
| [III.] | THE FIRST PERIOD: THE PRIMITIVES | [61] |
| [IV.] | THE SECOND PERIOD: THE EARLY POLYCHROMEMASTERS | [125] |
| [V.] | THE THIRD PERIOD: KIYONAGA AND HISFOLLOWERS | [205] |
| [VI.] | THE FOURTH PERIOD: THE DECADENCE | [255] |
| [VII.] | THE FIFTH PERIOD: THE DOWNFALL | [347] |
| [VIII.] | THE COLLECTOR | [401] |
| INDEX | [449] | |
ILLUSTRATIONS
| Hiroshige: The Bow-moon | [Frontispiece] | |
| PLATE | PAGE | |
| [1.] | Moronobu: A Pair of Lovers | [71] |
| [2.] | Sukenobu: A Young Courtesan | [77] |
| [3.] | Kwaigetsudō: Courtesan arranging her Coiffure (Spaulding Collection) | [81] |
| [4.] | Okumura Masanobu: Courtesans at Toilet | [93] |
| [5.] | Okumura Masanobu: Standing Woman | [97] |
| [6.] | Okumura Masanobu: Young Nobleman Playing the Drum (Chandler Collection) | [101] |
| [7.] | Toyonobu: Two Komuso, represented by the Actors Sanokawa Ichimatsu and Onoye Kikugoro (Chandler Collection) | [109] |
| [8.] | Toyonobu: Girl opening an Umbrella (Metzgar Collection) | [113] |
| Toyonobu: Woman dressing | [113] | |
| [9.] | Kiyomitsu: The Actor Segawa Kikunojo as a Woman smoking | [117] |
| [10.] | Kiyomitsu: Woman with Basket Hat | [121] |
| Kiyomitsu: Woman coming from Bath | [121] | |
| [11.] | Harunobu: Young Girl in Wind (Gookin Collection) | [137] |
| [12.] | Harunobu: Lady talking with Fan-vendor (Chandler Collection) | [141] |
| [13.] | Harunobu: Girl viewing Moon and Blossoms (Chandler Collection) | [145] |
| [14.] | Harunobu: Courtesan detaining a passing Samurai | [149] |
| [15.] | Harunobu: Shirai Gompachi disguised as a Komuso | [153] |
| Harunobu: Girl playing with Kitten | [153] | |
| [16.] | Koriusai: Mother and Boy | [161] |
| Koriusai: Two Lovers in the Fields; Spring Cuckoo | [161] | |
| [17.] | Koriusai: Two Ladies | [165] |
| Koriusai: A Game of Tag | [165] | |
| [18.] | Shigemasa: Two Ladies | [169] |
| Koriusai: A Courtesan | [169] | |
| [19.] | Shunsho: An Actor of the Ishikawa School in tragic rôle | [175] |
| [20.] | Shunsho: The Actor Nakamura Matsuye as a Woman in White | [179] |
| [21.] | Shunsho: The Actor Nakamura Noshio in Female rôle (Gookin Collection) | [183] |
| [22.] | Buncho: Courtesan and her Attendant in Snowstorm (Mansfield Collection) | [187] |
| [23.] | Shunyei: An Actor | [191] |
| [24.] | Shunko: The Actor Ishikawa Monnosuke in Character | [195] |
| [25.] | Kiyonaga: The Courtesan Hana-ōji with Attendants | [211] |
| [26.] | Kiyonaga: Lady with two Attendants (Gookin Collection) | [215] |
| [27.] | Kiyonaga: The Courtesan Shizuka with Attendants in the Peony Garden at Asakusa | [219] |
| [28.] | Kiyonaga: Two Women and a Tea-house Waitress beside the Sumida River (Gookin Collection) | [223] |
| [29.] | Kiyonaga: Yoshitsune Serenading the Lady Jorurihime (Spaulding Collection) | [227] |
| [30.] | Kiyonaga: Geisha with Servant carrying Lute-box | [231] |
| Kiyonaga: Woman painting her Eyebrows | [231] | |
| [31.] | Shuncho: Group at a Temple Gate (Mansfield Collection) | [235] |
| [32.] | Shuncho: Two Ladies under Umbrella | [239] |
| Shuncho: The Courtesan Hana-ōji; the Sumida River seen through the Window | [239] | |
| [33.] | Shuncho: Two Ladies in a Boat on the Sumida River | [243] |
| Yeisho: Two Courtesans after the Bath | [243] | |
| [34.] | Kitao Masanobu: The Cuckoo (Spaulding Collection) | [251] |
| [35.] | Yeishi: Three Ladies by the Seashore | [267] |
| [36.] | Yeishi: Lady with Tobacco-pipe | [271] |
| [37.] | Yeishi: Interior opening on to the Seashore (Metzgar Collection) | [275] |
| [38.] | Utamaro: Okita of Naniwaya, a Tea-house Waitress (Chandler Collection) | [283] |
| [39.] | Utamaro: Two Courtesans | [287] |
| [40.] | Utamaro: Woman Seated on a Veranda | [291] |
| [41.] | Utamaro: A Youthful Prince and Ladies | [295] |
| [42.] | Sharaku: The Actor Arashi Ryuzō in the rôle of one of the Forty-seven Ronin (Spaulding Collection) | [301] |
| [43.] | Sharaku: The Actor Ishikawa Danjuro in the rôle of Moronao | [309] |
| [44.] | Sharaku: The Actor Kosagawa Tsuneyo as a Woman in the Drama of the Forty-seven Ronin (Ainsworth Collection) | [313] |
| [45.] | Choki: Courtesan and Attendant | [321] |
| Shunman: Two Ladies under a Maple-tree | [321] | |
| [46.] | Choki: A Courtesan and her Lover | [325] |
| Choki: A Geisha and her Servant carrying Lute-box | [325] | |
| [47.] | Toyokuni: Ladies and Cherry Blossoms in the Wind (Metzgar Collection) | [333] |
| [48.] | Toyohiro: A Daimyo's kite-party | [341] |
| [49.] | Hokusai: Fuji, seen across the Tama River, Province of Musashi | [361] |
| [50.] | Hokusai: Fuji, seen from the Pass of Mishima, Province of Kahi | [367] |
| [51.] | Hokusai: The Monkey Bridge; Twilight and Rising Moon | [371] |
| [52.] | Hiroshige: Homing Geese at Katada; Twilight | [377] |
| [53.] | Hiroshige: The Seven Ri Ferry, Kuwana, at the Mouth of the Kiso River; Sunset | [383] |
| [54.] | Hiroshige: The Village of the Fuji Kawa; Evening Snow | [387] |
| [55.] | Hiroshige: The Ommaya Embankment, on the Sumida River at Asakusa; Evening | [391] |
| [56.] | Hiroshige: Bird and Flowers | [395] |
GLOSSARY
Beni.—A delicate pink or red pigment of vegetable origin.
Beni-ye.—A print in which beni is the chief colour used. The term is generally employed to describe all those two-colour prints which immediately preceded the invention of polychrome printing.
Chuban.—A vertical print, size about 11 × 8, sometimes called the "medium size" sheet.
Diptych.—A composition consisting of two sheets.
Gauffrage.—Printing by pressure alone, without the use of a pigment, producing an embossed effect on the paper.
Hashira-ye.—A very tall narrow print, size about 28 × 5, used to hang on the wooden pillars of a Japanese house; a pillar-print.
Hashirakake.—See hashira-ye.
Hoso-ye.—A small vertical print, size about 12 × 6.
Kakemono.—A painting mounted on a margin of brocade; hung by its top when in use, and rolled up when not in use.
Kakemono-ye.—A very tall wide print, size about 28 × 10.
Key-block.—The engraved wooden plate from which the black outlines of the print were produced.
Kira-ye.—A print with mica background.
Koban.—A vertical print slightly smaller than the Chuban (q.v.).
Kurenai-ye.—A hand-coloured print in which beni is chiefly used.
Mon.—The heraldic insignia used by actors and others as coat-of-arms; generally worn on their sleeves.
Nagaye.—See hashira-ye.
Nishiki-ye.—Brocade picture—a term used at first to describe the brilliant colour-inventions of Harunobu, but now loosely applied to all polychrome prints.
Oban.—A large vertical print, about 15 × 10—the normal full-size upright sheet.
Otsu-ye.—A rough broadsheet painting, of small size, on paper; the precursor of the print.
Pentaptych.—A composition consisting of five sheets.
Pillar-print.—See hashira-ye.
Sumi.—Black Chinese ink.
Sumi-ye.—A print in black and white only.
Surimono.—A print, generally of small size and on thick soft paper, intended as a festival greeting or memento of some social occasion.
Tan.—A brick-red or orange colour, consisting of red oxide of lead.
Tan-ye.—A print in which tan is the only or chief colour used. Such prints, in which the tan was applied by hand, were among the earliest productions.
Triptych.—A composition consisting of three sheets.
Uchiwa-ye.—A print in the shape of a fan.
Urushi.—Lacquer.
Urushi-ye.—A print in which lacquer is used to heighten the colour. The term is generally employed to describe only the early hand-coloured prints in which lacquer, colours, and metallic dust were applied to the printed black outline.
Yokoye.—A large horizontal print, about 10 × 15—the normal full-size landscape sheet.