Ukiyoe zenshu, The Complete Works of Ukiyo-e. All 6 vols.

Tokyo: Kawade Shobo, 1956. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Good/No Jacket. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. Kiyomasu, Kiyoshige, Harunobu, Utamaro, Toyokuni I, Kunimasa, Kunisada, Hokusai, Sharaku, Hiroshige. First edition thus. Text in Japanese only; not in English. The title, as translated, is somewhat misleading; these volumes certainly do not contain all the countless ukiyo-e works ever published by all ukiyo-e artists over the centuries. Rather, this complete 6 volume set comprises a representative survey of major genres within Japanese woodblock prints, including: Early Prints, Beautiful Women, Flowers & Birds, Actors/Theater Scenes, and Landscapes. Edited by Seiichiro Takahashi. Published between 1956 and 1958. Printed and bound in Japan. 13.5 x 10 inches. Boards with lovely, textured Japanese custom paper, ivory-colored, with spines bound in burnt orange cloth. All spines neatly lettered in black by title, contents and volume number. Generally unbumped spine heads and tails; some corners are moderately bumped. Overall the bindings are very clean. Text blocks seem firmly bound in despite occasional cracking. Dark charcoal pastedowns and FEPs. Numerous artists include: Kiyomasu, Kiyoshige, Harunobu, Utamaro, Toyokuni I, Kunimasa, Kunisada, Hokusai, Sharaku, Hiroshige and Kiyochika, among others. Texts with historical and descriptive notes by specialists. Vol. 1. With 64 full-page plates, with 16 tipped-in and in color, 195 B&W small illus. Semi-creasing to upper right corner of most pages. Vol. 2. With 66 plates, w. 16 in color, 196 illus. Semi-creasing to upper and lower right corner of most pages. Vol. 3. With 64 plates, w. 16 in color, 141 illus. Text block tender and is cracked at Plate 5 and at Figure 108. Semi-creasing to upper and lower right corner of most pages. Vol. 4. With 67 plates, w. 17 in color, 178 illus. Semi-creasing to lower right corner of most pages. Vol. 5. With 71 plates, w. 17 in color, 179 illus. Age-spotting to title page. Some off-setting from the tissue guards. Text cracked at Figure 145. Vol. 6. With 64 plates, w. 16 in color, 192 illus. Minor text cracking. Rated a Good Plus set of volumes. Very scarce in any condition. 19 lbs. 4 oz. weight. Ichitaro Kondo [1910-1961] was an art expert and an authority on woodblock prints. He was the director of the data section of the Tokyo National Museum. He was the author of several books on Japanese art.