Japanese Maps : Gokaikō Yokohama no zenzu

Japanese Maps

<p style='text-align: justify;'> Map of Yokohama, in Japanese. It is signed by Gyokuransai Hashimoto, an alias for Hashimoto Sadahide (1807-1873). It shows Yokohama harbour after its opening to foreign trade. The title is reported on the map. The mounted cover label and the surviving envelope use the alternative title "Gokaikō Yokohama ōezu". The name of the author appears both on the map and on the envelope. The colophon reports the name of the publisher, Maruya Tokuzō (Hōzendō is the name of the associated shop), but the publication date, Man’en 1 (1860), can only be found on the envelope. </p><p style='text-align: justify;'> The map is in wood block print, in colour, a single sheet folded into original covers, with relief shown pictorially. It includes a legend with explanatory notes and a preface. It is oriented with North to the lower left, and, as reported in the explanatory notes, it intends to represent Yokohama as seen from Koyasu village. Cover description: green burnished paper and flexible cover board; in the front, mounted cover title, in Japanese, text black on yellowish label; in the back, mounted bookplate of Biblioteca Lindesiana (at the base of the bookplate in pencil is the notation: "16/B"). </p>