Hinagata Eawase.
1940
by KAWARAZKI, Kodo.
1940. KAWARAZKI, Kodo. Hinagata Eawase. [Collection of Designs]. 5 volumes, each volume with 20 colour woodblock plates. Folio, 330 x 210 mm., accordion bound in publisher's illustrated covers, in a new chitsu case. Kyoto: Unsodo, 1940-1942. An imaginative collection of design plates. Instead of the usual pattern plates, the plates in these five volumes consist of an encyclopedia of Japanese life, with images taken from everyday life, nature and traditional iconography. Unsodo is the name of a large Japanese publishing company with branches in both Tokyo and Kyoto. Founded in 1891, this company is still in existence today. From the 1890s through the 1930s, the Unsodo publishing house was involved in printing high quality pattern books for various crafts including textiles and lacquer. Some browning to the paper without affecting the beautiful woodcut images. Probably due to its having been published during the war, it is extremely rare, with OCLC listing only the copy in the National Diet Library. (Inventory #: 165213)