Paper short abstract:

In my paper I shall look at Japanese woodblock printed books, attempting to describe how Edo period publishers, authors and illustrators resorted to the stylistic freedom offered by woodblock-printing technology in their works.

Paper long abstract:

In contrast to publications printed with movable type, woodblock printed books produced in the Edo period preserve several common features with the Japanese manuscript tradition. Thanks to woodblock printing technology there were no limitations imposed by typesetting, and it was very easy to render various scripts using many calligraphic styles, arrange texts into complex layouts and designs, use allographs or unusual characters to convey subtle nuances of meaning. At the same time, the versatility offered by woodblock printing played an important role in fostering the production of new editorial products, characterized by innovative designs, compiled with elegant calligraphy, and embellished with various graphic elements.

The analysis of formal and stylistic aspects of the printed page (layout, pagination, calligraphic styles, orthography, etc.) is of paramount importance to understand the impact that woodblock printing had on the Edo period book production. The significance of such analysis is not limited to the study of Japanese bibliography per se, but it highlights under-researched aspects of Japanese publishing and book history.

In my paper I shall look at selection of Japanese woodblock printed books —popular fiction, poetry and manuals— examining their layout and use of calligraphic styles. On the one hand, I will attempt to describe how Edo period publishers, authors and illustrators responded to the stylistic freedom offered by woodblock-printing technology in their works. On the other hand, I shall look at how the development of certain kinds of Japanese early modern literature might have been fostered by the use of woodblock printing instead of movable type printing.