Illustrated books from the Duret collection (2022)
The Prints and Photographs department of the French National Library (BnF) holds several thousands of old Japanese items, including prints and illustrated books. Among those is the Duret collection, after the name of Theodore Duret (1838-1927), art critic and japonesque collector who donated over 500 illustrated books from the Edo period. They cover a wide variety of literary genres (novels, epic chronicles, poems, oraimono, kabuki plays…), some written by renowned authors such as Saikaku, Bakin or Chikamatsu Monzaemon, and illustrated by the finest artists of their time.