mamehon 豆本

Keywords
Art History
Painting

Also called keshibon 芥子本, keshigatabon 芥子形本, and hinamamehon 雛豆本. A miniature book. The smallest woodblock printed books (approximately 100 x 140 mm or less). Mamehon were usually used for children's novellas, although *shunga 春画 (erotic books) were also produced in this format. Another genre of small woodblock-printed books known as *akakohon 赤小本 began to appear during the 1670s, and an early mamehon, Hiina bunshōsōshi ひいな文章草紙, was published during the Genroku 元禄 (1688-1704) era. However, a large number of these miniature books were produced through the late Edo period. During the 19th century, mamehon often had illustrations on almost every page; they were designed by *ukiyo-e 浮世絵artists, including Keisai Eisen 溪斎英泉 (1790-1848), Utagawa Sadahide 歌川貞秀 (1807-73) and the pupils of Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳 (1797-1861).