Momoyogusa. Flowers of a Hundred Worlds

1910. SEKKA, Kamisaka. Momoyogusa. [Flowers of a Hundred Worlds]. 3 volumes. Suite of 60 double-spread colour printed woodblock prints. Oblong 4tos, 301 x 225 mm, accordion bound with original publisher's printed covers, preserved in Japanese chitsu case. Kyoto: Unsôdô, 1909-1910. A spectacular Japanese coloured woodblock book, called the "finest Japanese design book ever printed." Very early impressions with the woodgrain still visible in many of the prints. Sekka's book is infused with a modern, forward-looking, sensibility that, in terms of quality and imagination, ranks this among the best-illustrated books from any culture produced in any century. Kamisaka Sekka (1866-1942) "was a genius; effortlessly, prodigiously, boundlessly imaginative, tirelessly inventive, spontaneous and free" (Ehon p. 240). In this astounding work Sekka used the decorative "Rimpa" style throughout his suite of coloured woodblock prints to evoke the myriad images of flowers, water, sun and moon, clouds, birds, animals, bamboo. "It was through the vision of the publishers Unsôdô that Sekka was given his opportunity to make a name that now stands for all that is exceptional in Rimpa color prints in the early 20th century" (Ravicz p. 103). The title: Momoyogusa or Flowers of a Hundred Worlds is a poetic phrase used commonly with chrysanthemums, and is meant in the context of this book to contrast the seasons of Spring and Autumn, the journey of man from youth to old age. The decorative prints are often of such exceptional power that it can be safely stated that Sekka has created something unprecedented and unequalled in Japanese art up to his time. Some wear to the binding edges, occasional spotting and fading at extreme margins to a few plates only, else a fine copy. Of the greatest rarity with OCLC listing only NYPL, Yale and National Diet Library. Kees, Ehon, The Artist and the Book in Japan 60. Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book 67. Ravicz, The Japanese Picture Book 102-104.