Page:The Surviving Works of Sharaku (1939).djvu/33

 within the past forty years in Japan itself, in Europe and in America, illustrate at least one Sharaku; but if we gave references to all of these much space would be used to little purpose. In a few instances, however, we have given for special reasons considerably longer lists. All our references to Kurth are to the edition of 1922.

It was in 1790 that the Tokugawa government decreed that no print could be published until its design had been approved by an official censor, and all the prints of Sharaku bear a censor’s seal. He had only one publisher—Tsutaya—whose trade-mark appears on all authentic prints that bear the artist’s signature.

The size of the print, the type of background used in it and the coloring of the costume depicted will be noted in the separate description of each subject.

In the following catalogue the surviving works of Sharaku are arranged in the six categories listed below, and the prints representing actors have been placed in accordance with the approximately chronological order of the productions in which they are shown as appearing.

The exhibition is arranged to be seen by a person moving from left to right.