四大奇書 上
A Meiji-era Japanese illustrated edition of Chinese classic novels, published by Hakubunkan in 1907 for a general reading public. The four pictures are line-drawn woodblock-style scenes with Chinese-character captions set in vertical columns beside them. They show dramatic figures in landscapes: a robed scholar among rocks and pines, a mounted warrior on a cliff above a waterfall, a crowd of armoured men with a seated figure, and a battle among waves and rays of light, offering designers strong ink-line compositions with dynamic diagonals and stylised water and rock.
