Utagawa Hiroshige
(1797-1858)
1850-1867
Complete sets of Hiroshige's Picture Book of the Souvenirs of Edo (Ehon Edo Miyage) are increasingly scarce. This handsome ten-volume set remains in very good condition and represents one of the most important illustrated books devoted to Edo by Japan's greatest landscape artist. Their rarity is reflected in the market, where a lesser set realized approximately US$2,723 at Mainichi Auction in 2020.Couldn't load pickup availability
Complete set of 10 volumes
Approx. 7 × 8 inches each
Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige I (Volumes I–VII); final 3 volumes attributed to Hiroshige II
Publisher: Kikuya Kōsaburō (Kinkōdō)
Published: 1850–1867
Ehon Edo Miyage (Picture Book of the Souvenirs of Edo) is one of Hiroshige's most celebrated illustrated book series, offering an extraordinary visual record of Edo (modern Tokyo) at the height of the Tokugawa period. Richly illustrated with landscapes, temples, shrines, bridges, famous landmarks, shops, and scenes of everyday life, the books capture the city with the same poetic sensibility that made Hiroshige's landscape prints world famous.
The project began in 1850 as a four-volume series, with the original edition identifying the books by the Four Directions (East, South, West, and North) rather than by volume numbers. Its popularity led to additional volumes, eventually expanding into the complete ten-volume set published between 1850 and 1867.
Volumes I–VII are accepted as the work of Hiroshige I. The final three volumes were issued after his death and are generally attributed to Hiroshige II, who is believed to have completed the series using drawings and sketches left by his teacher. Although the later volumes differ stylistically, they remain an important continuation of one of the great illustrated books of the Edo period.
In the preface to the fourth volume, written in the winter of 1850, Hiroshige described the purpose of the series:
"This work has now reached its fourth volume. All views are drawn with fidelity to nature, with exact truth. Of course rather freely and unskilfully, but it may amuse children or serve as lesson books... In future volumes will be depicted fine temples, types of people, stories, warehouses and shops, presented as if actually before you. Criticize the work if you like, but I trust you will desire it and purchase it!"
Signed Ichiryūsai Hiroshige, Beginning of Winter, Dog Year (1850).
