URYU, Masakazu [BAITEI, Kinga]. Kanwa eiyu gaden [Wakan eiyu gaden /]. [Japan]: Gyokusando , ca. Hanshibon, (6 1/4″ x 9″), pp. Yellow paper covers with a title sticker on the front cover bearing black Japanese text. Traditional fukurotoji (pouch binding) on Japanese paper. Contains 14 woodblock prints accompanying continuous vertical Japanese text. Cover is lightly soiled with some crinkles in the paper. Japanese paper is generally clean with some English in red pencil on the title pages. The back pastedown is halfway detached. During the Meiji period, the Japanese publishing industry experienced a vibrant transition where traditional woodblock printing coexisted alongside modern methods. Such eiyu-mono (hero tales) were immensely popular during the late 19th century, serving both as entertainment and as pedagogical tools for moral instruction and national identity formation. The publisher, Gyokusando, issued this edition to meet the continuing public demand for classical warrior aesthetics. The 14 dynamic woodblock prints illustrate climactic moments of heroism, seamlessly integrated with Kinga’s vertical text. This specific copy reveals an interesting historical provenance through its later English pencil annotations, marking its passage from a domestic Japanese audience into early Western hands.
