Keisai Draws the World

Keisai Draws the World, a collection of drawings by Kuwagata Keisai / 168-page paperback with dust jacket, 5.9 x 8.3 inches, published by Unsodo / text in Japanese though it is mostly images

This book contains (along with other sketchbooks), the classic Chōjū ryakugashiki ("Abbreviated Drawing Styles for Birds and Animals") which I long ago had in stock as a miniature book

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This is a compilation of a series of sketchbooks that Keisai Kuwagata, who was born the son of a tatami mat maker and later became a painter in the service of a feudal lord, created as a model for his paintings. He is also said to be Hokusai’s rival. The collection is full of cute and amusing sketches of animals, people, flowers, plants, fish, and landscapes.

About the artist: "A pupil of Kitao Shigemasa, and later Kano Yosen’in Korenobu, Masayoshi worked as an ukiyoe artist under the name Kitao Masayoshi. He then became official painter to the daimyo of Tsuyama and worked in the Kano style using the name Kuwagata Keisai... He was a pioneer of a new style of drawing manual called ryakugashiki, which marked an important point in the development of this style of illustration and he strove, in his work, to simplify forms and capture the spirit of the animals he was depicting." (via)

About the publisher: Unsodo was founded in Kyoto in 1891 as an art book publisher. They are the only company in Japan to publish handrail woodblock books.