Of course I wish I could read Japanese to know what is written on the right hand page of each spread in this lovely early 20th century manuscript notebook, but the sumi ink drawings on the left of the spread (58 total by my count) more than stand on their own. Each drawing/painting is of a landscape view framed by an oval border, with each seeming like a portrait of a specific place at a specific moment--sometimes with rain streaming down, sometimes with birds flying overhead. Sometimes the view is a long one, with mountain in the distance; other times a near one, of water streaming around rocks, or a close waterfall. Loose, intimate, graceful, very lovely, and each as good as the next. (Documentation shows a random selection, they are ALL good.)
The construction of the notebook with uncut edges to folded paper pages means that each page has a blank reverse (one would just have to trim one edge of a page to reveal it); I would hate to see this taken apart, but of one did, each painting would have a blank back and nothing would be lost.)
The dealer I purchased this from dated it Taisho period, c. 1912.
6 7/8" x 5" and in very good condition, with a bit of minor scattered spotting. Approx 116 pg., including 58 full page drawings/paintings.
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