Woodblock Print Book by Shigemasa Kitao: Chinese Poem, E-hon Format

The cover has gone the color of old tea, with a faint crane flying across it.

This woodblock print book is Japanese, dated 1793, ink on paper, in the e-hon format, with a Chinese poem by Shigemasa Kitao. E-hon are picture books printed from carved woodblocks, and they were a favored format for artists in the Edo period. This one is bound in the traditional Japanese way, with a stab-stitched spine of golden thread along the right edge. The cover paper is soft, mottled and creased, with a pale label strip at left. A faint pattern of birds in flight shows through the surface. It is 6.2 inches wide and 9 high.

Old paper, patiently turning the pages of its own history.