Name: A SET OF 18TH CENTURY SEAL BOOKS
Brand: Seal Books from the Collection of Ren Studio
Price: 220000.00 HKD
Availability: SoldOut

A SET OF 18TH CENTURY SEAL BOOKS
Seal Books from the Collection of Ren Studio

A set of thirty-two thread-bound books
Each measures 28.7 x 19 cm. (11 ¹⁄₄ x 7 ¹⁄₂ in.)
With wooden box
Multiple pages and the back of the lid of the box has inscription by Tokutomi Soho (1863-1957)

Previously in the collection of Masayoshi Matsukata (1835-1924, Japanese ex-prime minister)
As stated on the box inscription, “Matsukata would have presented this to Soho for Soho’s sixtieth birthday in 1923, but he could not do it because Matsukata passed away. In October 1924, Iwao Matsukata (son of Masayoshi Matsukata) visited Soho’s house and talked about this and he sent the set of seal books to Soho later.”

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Lot Essay

Mr Tokutomi Soho (1863 - 1957) was a famous journalist, who was very active between the Meiji and Showa periods. At the age of 28, he founded "Kokumin (People's) Newspaper" and worked as a chief editor and managing director for many years. As a historian he was extremely famous known especially for his The Modern Japanese History volume 1-100.
Mr Tokutomi deeply appreciated Chinese culture, as he was acquainted with Tang dynasty Poem Selection, and he was highly respected by policy-makers, business leaders and Chinese poem specialist Shinpei Goto (1857-1929).
He was able to form a major collection of important Chinese paintings with a help from his great circle of friends, such as the Chinese seal maker Senro Kawai (1871-1945), historian Konan Naito (1866-1934) and graduates from University of Toa Doubunshoin.