Author: SAITO, Choshu, Yukitaka SAITO & Ghessin SAITO; Hasegawa SETTAN (ills).
Title: Edo Meisho Zue [Famous Sights in and about Edo].[Tokyo, Suharaya Itachi, Tenpo 5-7 = 1834-1836]. 7 maki (chapters) in 20 volumes. Small 4to (22.5 x 18.5 cm). Printed from woodblocks on Japanese paper. With ca. 600 black and white woodcut illustrations by Hasegawa Settan, mostly double-page with a few single-page. Original publisher's blue wrappers with blind stamped pine branch decorations and paper title labels. In 2 modern Japanese dark purple cloth maru chitsu (wrap-around cases), each containing 10 volumes.
Description: First edition of one of the greatest illustrated Japanese books: a poetical tour of Tokyo (Edo) with over 600 woodcuts. This important, genre-defining work counts as one of the great city descriptions in book history and marked the popularisation of the Meisho-zue genre in Japan. It is a combined effort of 3 generations of the Saito family's poetry and the graphic masterpiece of Hasegawa Settan (1778-1843).The genre of Meisho-zue originated in Japan at the end of the 18th century. It combines book illustrations and text to depict the local history and heritage of the cities visited by travellers. The present illustrated tour of Tokyo exceeds any other work in the Meisho-zue and rivals any of the great European city descriptions.In 20 volumes the work takes the reader through parts of Tokyo and its surroundings, very much like a guided walking tour, with stops at the city’s most significant highlights. Block-by-block the text goes into the particulars and history of the sights. Shelf marks on front covers. Bindings slightly rubbed, otherwise in very good condition.l David Chibbett, The history of Japanese book illustration (1977), p. 190, pl. 90; Colin Franklin, Exploring Japanese books and scrolls (2005), pp. 122-125; Henri Kerlen, Catalogue of pre-Meiji Japanese books and maps in public collections in the Netherlands (1996), 224.

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