Ehon: The Artist And the Book in Japan (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"... Roger Keys eloquently implores his readers to better appreciate the aesthetics of the books themselves, as well as the artistic sensibility of their makers. THe remarkable collection about which he writes, containing three hundred manuscripts and fifteen hundred printed books, has lonng been know about by scholars, but this publication marks its first borad introduction to the general public, through a selection of seventy works."-- IIAS Newsletter #45 Autumn 2007

Product Description

Ehon - or "picture books"- are part of an incomparable 1,200-year-old Japanese tradition. Created by artists and craftsmen, most ehon also feature essays, poems, or other texts written in beautiful, distinctive calligraphy. They are by nature collaborations: visual artists, calligraphers, writers, and designers join forces with papermakers, binders, block cutters, and printers. The books they create are strikingly beautiful, highly charged microcosms of deep feeling, sharp intensity, and extraordinary intelligence. In the elegant, richly illustrated Ehon: The Artist and the Book in Japan, renowned scholar Roger S. Keyes traces the history and evolution of these remarkable books through seventy key works, including many great rarities and unique masterpieces, from the Spencer Collection of the New York Public Library, one of the foremost collections of Japanese illustrated books in the West.

The earliest ehon were made as religious offerings or talismans, but their great flowering began in the early modern period (1600-1868) and has continued, with new media and new styles and subjects, to the present. Shiohi no tsuto (Gifts of the Ebb Tide, 1789; often called The Shell Book) by Kitagawa Utamaro, one of the supreme achievements of the ehon tradition, is reproduced in full. Michimori (ca. 1604), a luxuriously produced libretto for a No play is also featured, as are Saito- Shu-ho's cheerful Kishi empu (Mr. Ginger's Book of Love, 1803), Kamisaka Sekka's brilliant Momoyogusa (Flowers of a Hundred Worlds, 1910), and many more.

Ehon: The Artist and the Book in Japan ends with ehon by some of the most innovative practitioners of the twentieth century. Among these are Chizu (The Map, 1965), Kawada Kikuji's profound photographic requiem for Hiroshima; Yoko Tawada's and Stephan Kohler's affecting Ein Gedicht für ein Buch (A Poem for a Book, 1996); and Vija Celmins's and Eliot Weinberger's Hoshi (The Stars, 2005).

The magnificent ehon tradition originated in Japan and developed there under very specific conditions, but it has long since burst its bounds, like any living tradition. Ehon: The Artist and the Book in Japan suggests that when artists meet readers in these contrived, protected, focused, sacred book "worlds," the possibilities for pleasure, insight, and inspiration are limitless.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: New York Public Library (October 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295986247
• ISBN-13: 978-0295986241
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #679,471 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book, excellent scholarship, October 26, 2006

By	GizmoGal (Sherman, CT) - See all my reviews

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This superb publication accompanies a marvelous exhibition at The New York Public Library. This is a must-have book for anyone interested not only in Japanese art and illustration, but in great art in general. Professor Keyes has focused on material in the extraordinary Spencer Collection, but follows a different approach than previous curators and authors, covering material from the 8th century Buddhist "hidden books," through Utamaro, Hiroshige and lesser known masters right through to avant-garde artist's books of the 21st century. Japanese photography of the 20th century is also included and connects in fascinating ways to the greater body of Japanese Ehon. A wonderful gift book, but be sure to squirrel away a copy for yourself! And if you are within a 500 mile radius of New York City, run to see this show on display through early February, 2007.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ehon: The Artist And the Book in Japan by Roger S. Keye, February 15, 2007

By	E. de Vries (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Very well selected and documented. Beautiful reproductions and a pleasure to read.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars companion book to the NYPL Ehon exhibit, May 8, 2008

By	abigail (New York) - See all my reviews

As a companion to the New York Public Library exhibit a couple of years ago, this book serves its purpose: it provides an interesting, well-written history of the "picture book" in a handsomely printed volume. Some figures in the text are examined in moderate detail and placed in the context of the development of this art form. I was disappointed, however, that the illustrations are far too few to convey the extraordinary beauty and variety of this tradition. I had expected figures that would give a sense of the experience of viewing the exhibit, i.e., that there would be serial photos of some of the picture books, or pictures of some of the books unfolded. Perhaps this complaint is unfair, given that this is a book and not itself an exhibition, but I had hoped for a much more liberal reproduction of the pieces in the NYPL's marvelous, extensive holdings. Such a book would undoubtedly be expensive--but it would be well worth the price.