KUNISADA II (1823-1880) Album entitled Murasaki Shikibu Genj - Lot 368

Lot n° 368
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Estimation :
2000 - 4000 EUR
KUNISADA II (1823-1880) Album entitled Murasaki Shikibu Genj - Lot 368
KUNISADA II (1823-1880) Album entitled Murasaki Shikibu Genji Karuta, "The Genji Cards of Murasaki Shikibu", comprising 54 oban tate-e prints and two pages of text. This series illustrates a novel of the 11th century, the Genji Monogatari or " Dit du Genji ", attributed to Murasaki Shikibu, a woman of the Heian court. It relates the life and adventures of an imperial prince, accomplished in everything, who cannot claim the throne. This novel, by the thorough study of the numerous characters who appear in it, is considered as the first psychological novel in the world. Written by a woman for a female audience, it also has the particularity of being one of the first to have been written in kana, a simplified script based on kanji, Chinese characters used until then to write Japanese. With the kana, a phonetic writing is progressively mixed to the kanji which has become, nowadays, dominant. This series, considered as one of the major works of Kunisada II, was first published around 1857 by Tsutaya Kichizo, each print being identified by a title and the "Genji mon". Japan, second half of the 19th century. (Fresh colors, medium printing) (to 2334) Album size : 36 x 24,5 cm.
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