Yokohama, Kelly and Walsh, [1896]. Folio (38.2 x 29.3 cm). Title-page; 37 chromocollotype plates, partly finished by hand, each with a printed tissue guard. Original silk covers with floral, full-colour prints on front and rear boards; stab binding with threaded cords. Gilt-speckled endpapers. All edges gilt.

Kazumasa Ogawa (1860-1929). "Kazumasa Ogawa was a pioneering photographer and printer, and the foremost photography publisher in Japan during the Meiji era. The editor of Shashin Shimpo, he opened Tokyo’s first photography studio, established Japan’s first collotype press, and was a founding member of the Japan Photographic Society, the nation’s first amateur photography association. Captivated in his youth by the new technology of photography, [he] became one of the most enterprising and important early photographers, technicians, and printers in Japan. Born shortly before the Meiji era (1868-1912), or period of “enlightened rule,” and educated in both the United States and Japan, Ogawa produced a range of illustrated books for the Western market. His work focused on traditional architecture, scenic views, and subjects associated with Japanese culture, such as national festivals, military tableaux, ritual customs, costumed geisha, and flowers. ... These beautiful photographs feature flowers native to Japan, such as the lotus, several varieties of chrysanthemum, lily, and morning glory, as well as garden scenes" (Getty Museum). Some wear to the binding's corners; spine cover abraded at ends; internally a very good, clean copy. Rare. Not in Cat. BM(NH).