Author: Kawaraban.
Title: [Kyoiku Sanko Mankoku Dobutsu Daikaikai Shu Miyagi?] + [Shu Miyagi Hisayoshi?].
Description: n.p. n.d. (mid 19th century). 1. 40x54cm woodcut. Old folds; a short closed tear quite good. 2. 20x27cm, woodcut. On the back are a fair few neat notes that I think are dated Meiji 4 (1871). ¶ I've seen a couple of similar menageries with similar titles and find this the most appealing. One, that I take to be earlier, has plenty of character but is sparse, less lively. The other, I take to be later, is as crowded but looks more like any number of animals-of-the-world illustrations from anywhere in the world. I've also seen this same print with title across the top.The kangaroos I'm sure everyone in the world can identify but even an expert naturalist might be surprised by the Mountain Shark of Australia in the bottom right corner. The uncharacteristically cheerful wombat, top left, is of course a bear.

Keywords: graphic art natural history c19th Japan kawaraban social history education hikifuda