Sōsaku hanga to hanga no tsukurikata = How to make prints: drawn, blok-cut [sic] & printed by author

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Sōsaku hanga to hanga no tsukurikata = How to make prints: drawn, blok-cut [sic] & printed by author

Tohary, Kogan [Tobari, Kogan] [text and illustrations by].

Tōkyō: Hangasha, Taishō 11 [1922]. Later printing.

A scarce copy of this valuable resource on the process of woodblock printing by the sculptor and sōsaku hanga artist Tobari Kogan (1882-1927). Tobari, who studied painting in New York at the National Academy School of Fine Arts and the Art Students' League in the first years of the 20th century, co-founded the Japan Creative Print Association (Nihon Sōsaku Hanga Kyōkai) with Oda Kazuma, Maekawa Senpan, Onchi Kōshirō, and other notable artists in 1918. The term sōsaku refers to the consolidation of the roles of the artist, printer, and carver in one person, as opposed to the centuries-old practice of separating these roles. Tobari's text, which is in Japanese, includes a dedication to Yamaguchi Hisakichi and H.M. Richards, information on the tools and process of woodblock printing, and (in English and Japanese) a list of members of the "Japanese Graveur Artists Assosiation [sic]" (Nihon Hanga Kyōkai), the association's address, and information on its annual exhibition. The work features one unnumbered illustration tipped-in to the upper wrapper and sixteen numbered illustrations in the text block, of which six are woodblock-printed. Each of these six illustrations represents a different block printed in the woodblock-printing process. The 'complete' print, featuring all of the colours printed using all of the carved blocks, is a smaller version of Tobari's Acrobats (1916) and is of course also included in the work. This copy is from a later printing published only a week after the first printing. An important guide to the production of woodblock-printed illustrations for the individual, by a central figure of the sōsaku hanga movement.

One volume, complete. Original card wrappers, browned, with scrapes and small marks, extremities chipped. Three large stains to lower wrapper, not affecting text block. Leaf extremities browned and a little worn. Occasional small marks and light offsetting internally. Includes one loosely-inserted errata slip, extremities chipped. Housed in non-original custom slipcase. [1, 2 pages, 16 tipped-in illustrations and facing textual descriptions], 23, [1, 2] pages. 21.8 x 13.4 cm.

Sōsaku hanga to hanga no tsukurikata = How to make prints: drawn, blok-cut [sic] & printed by author
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