Nishiki-e, color woodblock print, signed on the colophon: Hiroshige ga
Format: Illustrated album (ehon) (mm 150x210)
Volumes: Zen Pen (I Vol.) Go Hen (II Vol.)
Preface and texts: Ryukatei Tanekadzu
Publisher: Fujioka Keijiro
Delicate proof in a contemporary edition, printed on Japanese paper, in good condition, with a small margin all around.
Series of narrative and landscape illustrations that retrace the stations of the Tōkaidō.
Bibliography:
https://www.hiroshige.org.uk/Illustrated_Books/TokaidoFukeiZuye1851.htm
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1979-0305-0-550-1?selectedImageId=1613410201
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/231171/teќkaideќ-fe-kei-zue
https://asia-archive.si.edu/object/FSC-GR-780.700/
Ryūkatei Tanekazu wrote in the spring of 1851:
Preface to Volume I
«Traveling is one of life's greatest pleasures. Every year, with an anxious heart, I have wanted to leave, but daily commitments have always held me back, making it impossible to realize this dream.
This work by the famous artist Hiroshige offers us a magnificent alternative to the journey itself. It carefully and minutely depicts more than fifty villages along the road between Kyoto and Yedo (Edo), including famous seaside and mountain resorts: Mount Akiha in Omi Province, Horaiji Temple in Mikawa, and the paths leading to the sacred Ise Shrine.
Observing these images is a pleasure that, at times, can even surpass that of the actual journey. Those who have never traveled will find in these pages a precious guide; those who have already visited these places will see their most vivid memories rekindled in their memory.
Although I am ignorant of the art of drawing, I dare say that this work - with its shading, its shades of ink, its harmony and grace - is in no way inferior to those of the great masters of the past."
Afterword on the back of Volume II
«A thought for the teacher Hiroshige: leaning on the desk, I observed the first drafts depicting Kanazawa and Kamakura; the pine forests of the Hodogaya villa; the plum trees in blossom in Sugita; the sea coasts of Kagekiyo; the temple of Horai, that of Atsuta; Yokkaichi; the clear waters of the Isuzu river; the mountain of Asama and the conjugal rocks of Futami-ga-Ura (Meoto Iwa, which means precisely “husband and wife rocks” are a very famous place in Japan, ed.).
Continuing towards the western capital, Kyoto, the Higashiyama Hills, Kiyomizu Temple, and finally the Sanjō Bridge appear.
Like a fox borrowing the lion's mane, I have the honor of writing these final words to conclude the work, on a rainy day in early spring."