Japanese Maps : Zōshū kaisei Sesshū Ōsaka chizu

Japanese Maps

<p style='text-align: justify;'> Map of Osaka, in Japanese. According to the colophon, this was a revised edition of Japanese 103 (which had been authorized for publication in 1789 and published in 1806), published in Tenpō 10 (1839). The author of the revision was Fujimura Naoyuki. The title is reported both on the map and in a mounted cover label. The preface (signed by Sōshii, 1738-1797), also reports the alternative title "Shinshū Naniwa chizu" (Map of Naniwa [Osaka], new edition)and mentions that the map was based on a previous chart by Sawada Kazunori (active from ca. 1744 to ca. 1764), titled "Naniwa no chizu" (Map of Naniwa [Osaka]). This was originally revised by Okada Gyokuzan (1737-1808[-1812?]). </p><p style='text-align: justify;'> The map is in wood block print, with printed colours, a single sheet folded into original titled covers, with relief shown pictorially. It is oriented with north to the left. In the lower left section, it includes two legends (illustrating the symbols used to identify the mansions of the warrior aristocracy, and those used to identify the different areas under the jurisdiction of Osaka castle), two plates with urban renovation works listed in chronological order, and two distance charts. It is one of the largest and most detailed commercial cartographical representations of Osaka from the Tokugawa period. Cover description: dark green burnished paper and flexible cover board; in the front, mounted cover title, in Japanese, text black on pinkish label; in the back, mounted bookplate of Biblioteca Lindesiana (at the base of the bookplate in pencil is the notation: "17/D"). </p>