ONNA DAI RAKU TAKARA BEKI: GREAT PLEASURE FOR LADIES ON OPENING THEIR TREASURE-B

Japan [1751], np. New green silk cloth-covered boards, 113 double-folded leaves, woodblock printed by hand on hand-made paper, first few pages later amateur color, thumbed, else as issued, illustrated on nearly every page, 18 x 25 cm. RARE ! *** *** *** . . . EXCEPTIONALLY RARE & EARLY, STUNNINGLY EROTIC . . . PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED HARU BON [Erotic Book] . . This is a famous book, inspired by another famous work by the great Kaibara Eikken: "PARODIES OF ONNA DAIGAKU TAKARA BAKO [GREAT LEARNING FOR LADIES OPENING THEIR TREASURE BOX" i.e. opening their locked vaginas to pleasure. 'Precious Box' or 'Treasure Strong-Box' has been synonyms for "Oman ko" [colloquial for 'vagina' or 'pussy'] from time immemorial in Japan. . *** A FAMOUS AND VERY EARLY PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED EROTIC BOOK: This is an early erotic illustrated book, with color woodblock printing on the frontispiece page, the balance of the work is in Sumi [black India ink & white] entirely hand printed on hand-made Washi paper, contained in a new indigo Chitsu [folding case] with new title labels, two bone clips. The fascinating point of this unusual work is that women of all classes of Japanese society are illustrated and discussed as all have the same basic instincts, erotic nature, erotic zones and erotic pleasures. The work was designed and illustrated to be an erotic training book for women and girls. . *** This book illustrates various classes of Japanese society, farmers life, showing the threshing of and planting of paddy rice by both men and women, most of whom are engaged in love making while performing their tasks. The book then continues into Japanese court life taken from the Tale of Genji, with nobles fully engaged in love-making throughout. This set of illustrations are done in the old Momoyama style, where the viewer is somewhere in the clouds, looking down upon the earthlings as they engaged in their daily life and love. The next section begins the instructional text and illustrations of ONNA DAI RAKU TAKARA BAKO, wherein we see a mother presenting her daughter with a lacquered tray containing two dildos, one white, the other black. Its time for the young lady to learn the pleasures of self stimulation & enjoyment. . *** The next shows a man and his lover sitting at the Kotatsu [table over a Hibachi-like warmer with quilt cover], while the girl looks at an erotic book, the man uses his toes to stimulate her clitoris. Next shows a father teaching his daughter calligraphy, while he makes love to a very ecstatic mother. Followed by a several views of couples fully engaged in love making. One shows lovers exchanging tongue kisses & making love while a maid voyeurs. Then a group of superb illustrations showing couples making love while engaged in daily chores, such as spinning thread, washing Kimono, weaving, embroidery, knotting silk cord, papermaking [this is illustrated in Hillier as #108, see notes below], dyeing thread and others. . *** Next shows a very unusual & highly imaginative illustration of a woman under a horse who penetrates her open vulva with huge penis that has a silk cord tied around it. Others show couples engaged in love-making: tea-leaf pickers, fishermen & fisher women, pleasure boat passengers, Shamisen players, and a host of others enjoying a passionate moment. . *** Following is a fascinating physiognomic illustration in the central part of the book, revealing a graphic display of superior feminine sexual markers. A nude woman is depicted showing her places of superior sexual value and locations of excitement. These are individually marked with a tremendous amount of black dots, with a descriptive paragraph of explanation. Jumping to the last page, it continues in this vein, but with focus strictly on the vulva: the various shapes and types, markers of the labia, clitoris and showing the various "types," that is, those with and without pubic hair and the value and comparisons. This section begins with a group of illustrations of erotic implements that will enhance the male organ: ointments, powders, silk threads to tie up the penis to keep it erect, "challises" or rings worn and held in place by erection, penis extenders and others that were known to bring joy and pleasure to women. See the William Lessa citation below for more details on the study of physiognomy. . *** Back to the center of the book, where it continues, with an unusual essay on homosexuality. This essay is on the thirty- two erotic styles of love-making and erotic behavior of men who cross dress and wear women's clothing, and hair styles, who are homosexuals or transvestites. There are 15 illustrations showing the type of young men or boys, who take on the feminine role and submit to being penetrated from the rear and ravaged by their lover men. Illustrations of their faces and physical attributes, reveal the nature of homosexuals and their physiognomy. Openly illustrated, showing the men engaged in love making, with good view of the sexual organs of both men and young boys. . *** The following section returns to women, with 6 pages showing women in Kimono and what they look like in the nude, with comments on the various "types" of faces, bodies and sexual and physiognomic markers. Followed by a section on the vocabulary, glossary of love words, expressions and love letters. Among the following illustrations is a very RARE view of a Nagasaki Dutchman and his Japanese courtesan or whore and her pleasures of the large foreign penis. In this section are also illustrations of various sex toys, penis extenders, rings, balls, lacquer penis tips & for the less than virile male, followed by several pages of sex education texts. . *** For more on physiognomy see William Lessa: CHINESE BODY DIVINATIONS: Its Forms, Affinities, and Functions. This outlines the physical body features that have special meanings in physiognomy, neomancy, metoposcopy et al. Again, the Japanese have used Chinese physiognomy for centuries as part of their medical pantheon to explain how physical features represent a systematic description of sexual prowess and attributes, as well as personality and health indicators. . *** THE ARTIST/AUTHOR TSUKIOKA SETTAI [1726-1786]: Settei was also known by his studio names as Masanobu & Rojinsai among others [1710-1786] was a famous Kamigata painting master [Kyoto-Osaka area artist & style], and was a pupil of the celebrated Sesshu school painter Keiho, and later followed the Kano style. He eventually created his own famous Ukiyo-e, painting style Tsukioka Settei School," which was one of the main branches of Kamigata Ukiyo-e and painting school. He produced over 30 superbly illustrated books during his tenure at the pinnacle of his career ca. [1753-71], including notable Haru-bon [erotic books] and "ranked among the best artists of the day", paraphrased from Lane below. . His pupils were his sons Sessai, Sekkei, Munenobu [Soushin], Kangetsu, Buzen and Gyokuzan. Settei used a combination of Moronobu and Sukenobu styles, with traces of aristocratic refinement...especially well known for graceful and elegant erotica, his paintings generally date after 1771 and are quite unlike those of his orthodox Ukiyo-e contemporaries..." See Roberts & British Museum below for more. . *** A PUN ON ANOTHER FAMOUS BOOK: This book title was pun, a parody based on the famous work by Kaibara Ekiken [1630-1714]: ONNA DAI GAKU TAKARA BAKO: A TREASURY BOX OF KNOWLEDGE FOR FEMALES, a serious Confucian moral treatise. Our title ONNA DAI RAKU TAKARA BEKI is essentially a play on words, to twist a serious study into a erotic rework of Ekiken's famous title, with one character and one sound different, replacing "BEKI" [study, learning] for "RAKU" ['FUN, pleasure, enjoyment, with a sexual connotation and pun]. . Settei felt that women should have proper access to equally valuable and "important sexual teachings" juxtaposition to Ekiken's "Confucian moral teachings" in order to have a rounded education in all of the "arts." See Hillier [below] for excellent follow-up text on this book, its dual-meaning title, signify cancer and teachings. . *** This is a very RARE copy of an obscure and famous early erotic treatise. The work is especially and profusely illustrated in a charming and elegant manner by an important artist & exponent of the early Ukiyo-e as an elegant and skilled painter of erotica. This title is seldom found on the market. See Roberts below for more about him. . *** BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Hillier: THE ART OF THE JAPANESE BOOK, vol. 1, pp.289-290 & plate 206; vol. 2. p.1118 index. Hillier also describes & illustrates other erotic titles by Settei on pages 284-296. * L. Roberts: DICTIONARY OF JAPANESE ARTISTS, p.144. * R. Lane: IMAGES FROM THE FLOATING WORLD, pp.320-321, under Settee. * KERLEN, H.: CATALOGUE OF PRE-MEIJI JAPANESE BOOKS & MAPS IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS IN THE NETHERLANDS, not in this reference but he lists another title by Settei. * SHIBUI, Kiyoshi.: UKIYO-E NAISI: Old Documents Concerning Human Life Instincts and Emotions as Interpreted by Japanese Artists in the 18th and Earlier part of the 19th Centuries, Tokyo 1932 [This is a rare and famous Japanese compiled bibliography of Haru-bon [erotic Japanese woodblock printed books]. See volume 1, p.3 #15, illustration on p.10 of plates shows front covers & title page on bottom of that page. Shibui lists exact title but with an alternate reading of the title Kanji: ONNA DAI RAKU HOKAI. This is an entirely correct but second reading of the last two Kanji characters. 'Beki' is a more common reading today. * TSUKIOKA SETTAI: database/term_details.aspx?bioId=144328 * LESSA, William A.: CHINESE BODY DIVINATION: Its Forms, Affinities & Function. This outlines the physical body features that have special meanings in physiognomy, neomancy, metoposcopy et al. The Japanese have used Chinese physiognomy for centuries as part of their medical pantheon to explain how physical features represent a systematic description of sexual prowess and attributes, as well as being dependable personality and health indicators. * NOSCO, Peter. eds. et al.: VALUES, IDENTITY, AND EQUALITY IN EIGHTEENTH-AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY JAPAN. This is an excellent illustrated essay on Japanese erotic works and other 'social issues' of the periods. This work liberally discusses Tsukioka Settai, this work and illustrates examples under chapter heading: DISCUSSING THE SACRED AND SEXUAL, pp.215-220, figures 9.7 & 9.8. Co-editors/authors: James E. Ketelaar, Yasunori Kojima. * LANE, Richard.: IMAGES FROM THE FLOATING WORLD: THE JAPANESE PRINT,INCLUDING AN ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY OF UKIYO-E, see pp.320-321. * *** Color scans of this & most other items are posted to our website.