Arcana:

(UTAMARO, KITAGAWA). Utamaro, Kitagawa. Tokyo: Gabun-Do, 1970. First Edition 1/500. Oblong 4to. Cloth in Illustrated Slipcase. Artist Monograph. Very Good -/No Jacket - As Issued. 147pp, 16 color and 122 b&w illustrations. Text in Japanese. This is a monograph on the renowned Japanese Ukiyo-E master Kitagawa Utamaro's Late Eighteenth Century erotic masterpiece "UtaMakura (Poem of the Pillow)". Reproduced here are the original twelve color woodblock prints as full page hand-tipped color plates, with one small quirk. Published in 1970, in keeping with Japan's then strict censorship laws the scenes depicting exposed genitalia have each been photographed with an orange rice-paper square covering the offending area. All of the reproductions of the explicitly graphic Shunga throughout suffer from the same fate. Still, this is obviously a very detailed and scholarly study of Utamaro's erotic prints. A most handsome example of the book itself limited to five hundred unnumbered copies showing repairs to the hinges inside the boards with archival linen tape along with some mild overall wear to the publisher's printed cardboard slipcase. Inventory Number: 018208