Waka moshiogusa - Gasan yōrosen, 和歌藻塩草 - 畫讃搖艫船: 52 lifetime impression woodblock print illustrations by Hakuin

Two volumes bound together; 12 nn, 24 numbered, 56 numbered, 1 nn pages; [Kyoto] 柳枝軒, Horeki 9 (1759). Binding is worn; some worming (see photos). Title slip is missing.

Volume 1: 和歌藻塩草 / Waka moshiogusa, 5 not numbered pages, 　12 number leaves (24 pages) with poems by Hahuin.

Volume 2: 畫讃搖艫船 / Gasan yōrosen, 1 not numbered leave (2 pages), 28 numbered leaves (56 pages) with 55 full pages woodblock illustratuin, 1 not numbered page.

This is one of the most remarkable and most rare works of Zen literature. Jack Hillier (The Art of the Japanese book) did not know this book. There exist only two more known copies of this book. One is at in the US at Stanford University Libraries and a second one is in Japan at Tohoku Universität Kano(東北大狩野).

Hakuin Ekaku (白隠 慧鶴, January 19, 1686 – January 18, 1769) was one of the most influential figures in Japanese Zen Buddhism. He is regarded as the reviver of the Rinzai school from a moribund period of stagnation, focusing on rigorous training methods integrating meditation and koan practice.

An important part of Hakuin's practice of Zen was his painting and calligraphy. He seriously took up painting only late in his life, at almost age sixty, but is recognized as one of the greatest Japanese Zen painters. His paintings were meant to capture Zen values, serving as sorts of "visual sermons" that were extremely popular among the laypeople of the time, many of whom were illiterate. Today, paintings of Bodhi Dharma by Hakuin Ekaku are sought after and displayed in a handful of the world's leading museums.

A later re-edition of this from the meji era is named: HAKUIN OSHO JIGASANSHU Giga:

Defects that are not explicitly mentioned were nevertheless taken into account in the pricing.