長岡恒喜 [Tsuneyoshi Nagaoka]

莊內金工之研究 [Shōnai Kinkō no Kenkyū] [A Study of Shōnai Metalwork] [Text and Plates] [Inscribed]

Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 1933. First Edition. Noble-bound (Kōki-toji) volume with double leaves, 7.5”x10.5”, 2, 8, 97, [2] pages, plus a folio of one hundred and forty plates depicting two hundred and seven items. Outer box is in Good condition, contents wrapper is in Fair condition, text volume is in Very Good minus condition, plates wrapper is in Good minus condition, and plates are in Very Good minus condition. Box (chō-tō) consists of wooden boards wrapped in patterned brown brocade fabric bearing crests associated with a noble family of the Shōnai region, and two paper labels to front; contents wrapper has a wooden plank covered in paper and a paper label to rear; text volume has dark brown brocade paper covers with a paper label to front; plates wrapper has brown ink titling to front. Box has splitting to ends of joints of flaps, fraying to fabric loop of upper toggle, near-complete splitting to three joints of inner enclosure, splitting to one joint of inner enclosure (fabric unsplit), adhesive toning to edges of blue and white pastedowns, remnant of book store paper label to inside corner of inner flap, and rubbing and scuffing throughout. Contents wrapper is age-toned, has heavy creasing to sides, open tears to paper adjacent to purple pull tabs, small closed tears to some edges, and scuffing throughout. Text volume has shelfwear to edges of covers, light creasing and rubbing to covers, small chipping to rear cover; has scuffing to text block edges, blue ink marks to fore edge, and age-toning and light scuffing throughout. Plates wrapper has creasing and open tears to spine, scattered shallow tears to edges, a smudge to front flap, and age-toning and scuffing throughout. Plates have age-toning, stress marks, and light scuffing throughout; folded plate-guide leaf has “140疋” in pencil to front corner. Plates have arabic numerals corresponding to the Japanese numbers of each item stamped on them; number 38 is unstamped but the image is colocated on the plate with number 39. Text in Japanese with kyūjitai kanji. Inscribed by author in text volume opposite title page: "謹呈 / 恒喜 / 孝典 様 (Respectfully Presented / Tsuneyoshi / To Mr. Takanori”. Shelved in Room A Octavo Overflow..

1417921

Special Collections

Price: $2,500

NOTES

Nagaoka Tsuneyoshi’s (1876-1945) A Study of Shōnai Metalwork is a substantial specialist study of the Shōnai school of Japanese sword-fitting makers, published by Yoshikawa Kōbunkan as a two-part, Japanese-style-bound set in a fitted chitsu. Its principal volume combines historical and connoisseurial discussion of the craftsmen and their work with the companion Shōnai Tsuba Sugata-shū—an illustrated plate album documenting 207 examples of tsuba, including works associated with makers such as the Tsuchiya Yasuchika line. The book is particularly valuable not merely as a textual account but as a period visual reference: the plate suite preserves forms, signatures, workmanship, and comparative material central to the study of Shōnai fittings. Often split up and sold or cataloged separately, it is comparatively rare to find them both together in their original packaging, like this example.

The author was a Japanese educator and scholar of sword fittings, particularly the regional traditions of tsuba and associated metalworkers, who published a series of works on the topic in the 1930s. His career was cut short, though, as he perished in the Great Tokyo Air Raid of March, 1945.