In the early 18th century, books of all types began to be sold in protective paper wrappers (shotai 書袋 or fukuro 袋). Some were plain, with just the book’s title, but frequently they were exquisitely woodblock printed with striking designs that didn’t necessarily relate to the book or set of books they enclosed. Naturally, as packaging, these wrappers were often discarded by the book owner. Consequently, very few survive.

This is the wrapper for the book, Haikai Poetry Book of the Cuckoo [Worshipping a Woman’s Privates at Night] [#37]. Like many extant wrappers that have been embellished with woodblock print designs, this one has been cropped to just the printed image on top to allow it to be preserved in the book’s box. Trimmed wrappers were also glued to the inside covers of books in appreciation of their artistic merit.

This untrimmed wrapper, which originally enclosed the three volumes of A True-Life Devoted Genji [#33], is the packaging in which this book was sold to the public. As most wrappers have been trimmed, it is very rare to find one like this in its original form.