Studies from Nature

Issued in the late 1780s, these three Japanese picture-books pair colour woodblock images with kyoka, the comic verse of the period. The Book of Crawling Creatures presents insects and snakes; Gifts of the Ebb Tide treats shells gathered at low tide; The Book of Myriad Birds shows species in seasonal settings. Each opening places a poem beside a closely observed creature, so that wit and natural history share the page. There is no continuous narrative. The set is a collection of illustrated verse albums, not a painter's monograph without text and not a scientific treatise on Japanese fauna.

Bound in Twist paper printed with original designs redrawn by Neil Gower. Printed paper labels with titles in English and in Japanese script. Illustrations and poems printed on Papermilk paper. Limitation certificate wrapped in Watermark Unryu White Japanese paper. COMMENTARY -bound in Twist paper blocked in gold. PRESENTATION BOX -cloth-covered box lined with paper printed to complement the bindings and tied twice with grosgrain ribbon.