Kōkoku (Advertisement)

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Kōkoku ["Advertisement"]

[Company name illegible].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late Edo to Meiji period (1850-1900s)?]. 

A woodblock-printed advertisement for bunshi (文紙), described in the document as "various [blank] documents for transactions [financial, legal, or otherwise] made between people". The firm offers these printed documents at a low price and in a convenient format for the busy businessperson to carry around town (the format is not described but may have been something like a chequebook containing a variety of blank forms). Some of the characters legible in the company name in the lower left of the print can also be seen in the moji-e (illustration constructed from letters or characters) printed in red pigment in the lower right. 

One leaf, complete. Folds and minor foxing. Light discoluration to verso. 39 x 30.1 cm. 

Kōkoku (Advertisement)
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