Meisū gafu　名数画譜
FSC-GR-780.858.1-4

Commentary by Itō Shiori　

Posted April 26, 2017

Original unedited text in Japanese follows

Meisū gafu (Album of famous sets of images) illustrates titled compositions based on the numbers from one to ten thousand. Select images also have an accompanying poem and seal. [1] The appendix lists the contents and includes the names of the calligraphers, artists, and seal carvers. It is noteworthy that the authors include individuals from Nara, Wakayama, and Osaka.

The editor of this book, Ōhara Tōya, was from Nara and worked in Osaka where he specialized in flower-and-bird pictures, landscapes, and genre scenes. He also created a number of the illustrations for Meisū gafu as seen in the fourth illustration in the first volume (p. 17 on the website). He also had close ties to the world of publishing since he was the editor and artist for Gokinai sanbutsu zue (FSC-GR-780.930.1-5) and the artist for the 1806 (Bunka 3) Morokoshi meisho zue 唐土名勝図会 (Famous places in Morokoshi [China]) and Ehon saiyūki 絵本西遊記 (Picture book of the journey to the west; first printing).

Although Chinese paintings and Chinese books provide the source for many of the images, one composition is drawn from Shin Nanpin gazu hyakufuku 沈南蘋画図百幅 (Catalogue of the one hundred scrolls of Nanpin; 1739, Genbun 4, unpublished), a text that explains the subjects in the work of the Chinese painter Shen Nanpin 沈南蘋 (J. Shin Nanpin; 1682–after 1760). This makes clear that the Chinese-language riddles in Shin Nanpin’s work increased in popularity at this time as auspicious painting themes.

Tōya’s preface in the supplement (附録) has a vermilion seal. The Pulverer copy is missing the publication details but the script style on the title slip and the appearance of the inside front cover corresponds with an early printing in the collection of the Waseda University Library (文庫31 E0524). The inscription in the colophon reads “in the collection of the Ki domain, Nanreikan” (Ki han Nanreikan zō 紀藩南嶺館蔵), which presents confusing information about domain schools and domain ownership of the blocks for the work. There are two confirmed versions—one a joint publication by two publishers, the other by five—from slightly later in the Edo period with the above Ki domain inscription intact. [2] However, the calligraphic script used for the publication year has been altered and the names of the Wakayama publishers added. The Meiji-period printing issued by a Wakayama publisher confirms multiple publication years; this suggests that the book’s publication rights changed hands several times.

書名　名数画譜
執筆者伊藤紫織

一から万までの数にちなんだ画題と絵を載せる。画題によっては詩文、印章も載せる。附録では出典を付けて各画題の内容を説明し、書、画、印の作者を掲載する。作者は大坂の他奈良、和歌山の人物が目立つ。編者の大原東野（1764または1771～1840）は奈良の出身で、大坂で絵師として活動した。本書には挿図も多く描いている。他に『五畿内産物図会』の編集と挿図、『唐土名勝図会』、『絵本西遊記』の挿図も手掛けており、出版と縁の深い人物であった。画題の出典は中国絵画の現物、中国の書物が多いが、沈南蘋の画題を解説した『南蘋百幅目録』からの引用もあり、沈南蘋の画に見られた中国語の謎語の吉祥画題が広まっていたことがわかる。

附録にある東野の序文に朱印があり、発行書林の記載がない本書は初期の出版とみられる雲英末雄氏旧蔵早稲田大学図書館本と題箋の書体や見返しの体裁が一致する。刊記の「紀藩　南嶺館蔵」は藩校や藩関係の蔵版と紛らわしい体裁である。「紀藩　南嶺館蔵」を残したまま、刊年の書体を変えて和歌山の発行書林を入れた、やや刊行時期が遅れる江戸時代の本が二書肆版、五書肆版の二種確認できる。和歌山の書店から刊行された明治版も刊記が複数確認でき、板株の権利の移動が予想される。

Selected readings:
C. H. Mitchell, with the assistance of Osamu Ueda, The Illustrated Books of the Nanga, Maruyama, Shijo and Other Related Schools of Japan. A Biobibliography (Los Angeles: Dawson’s Book Shop, 1972), 413–15.

Itō Shiori 伊藤紫織, “Shinkeizu o utsusu—Takemoto Tōtōan o meguru gaka Ōnishi Keisai to Ōhara Tōya” 「真景図を写す―武元登々庵,をめぐる画家　大西圭斎と大原東野―」, Journal of Informatics for Arts, Shobi University 26, 1–16.

Copies in other collections:　
Chiba City Museum of Art
German National Library, Frankfurt am Main
Kaga City Library
Kanazawa College of Art Library
Kyoto University Library
Waseda University Library (three printings; two are Meiji printings)
National Diet Library, Tokyo (Meiji printings)
Ritsumeikan University Art Center, Kyoto
Tokyo University of the Arts, University Library
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

[1] There were 171 calligraphers, 171 artists, and 27 seal carvers (there is overlap in the names). The theme associated with numbers is unusual, and an explanation of the subject was included in a supplemental volume.

[2] The two publishers are Sakamotoya Kiichirō 阪本屋喜一郎 (Seijudō 世壽堂) and Sakamotoya Daijirō 阪本屋大二郎 (Bijudō 眉壽堂), andthe five publishers are Sakamotoya Kiichirō, Sakamotoya Daijirō, Zeniya Kiichirō 屋喜十郎 (Bunkōdō 文弘堂), Kasedaya Heiemon 綛田屋平右衛門 (Seireidō 青藜堂), and Obiya Iē 帯屋伊兵衛 (Seikadō 青霞堂).