Process (Processes) of Wood-Cut [Woodcut] Printing Explained. ["On a Boat" / "Ferry over the Sumida"]. [Mokuhan junjozuri]. by The Shimbi [Shinbi] Shoin. (Kiyonaga)

Tokyo, The Shimbi Shoin Ltd., (1916).. Hardcover. .. Duodecimo. Pp. 4 (Introduction in English), and 20 (i.e. 40) double leaves, folded once in Japanese style, comprising of 20 progressive plates, numbered 1-20, printed from wood blocks. Captioned in English and Japanese. Letterpress tail-piece. Bound in traditional oriental format, tied with red silken threads, upper wrapper hand-printed in full colour from 20 blocks. In a very good condition (minute chip to blank corner-tip of one leaf, well away from image). A lovely book, beautifully preserved. ~ First edition. A second edition apparently appeared in 1938. "The prints made by the process of woodcut printing reproduce the slightest touch of the brush and the most delicate shades of colours in the original, the result being such as can hardly be attained by lithographs." (From the Introduction.) Through 20 progressive colour spreads, each showing separately the added colour and the result on the print itself, the book creates, step by step, a charming, full-colour reproduction, made from 20 different blocks, apparently reproducing Kiyonaga's "Ferry over the Sumida". Clamshell