Shinsen kodai moyō kagami. ten / Kodama Eisei hen = 新撰古代模様鑑. 天 / 児玉永成編 = Collection of Newly Selected Ancient Patterns, volume 1. (Tōkyō: Ōkura Magobe, Meiji 18 [1885]. 48 unnumbered pages. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) 2017- in process

This is the first of a two-volume set of ancient textile patterns. Each small textile sample is labeled by its source. The preface was written in 1885 by classical scholar and member of the Meiji government’s office of Shinto worship, Fukuba Bisei (1831-1907). His seal is stamped near his signature. The editor provides introductory remarks. –research and cataloguing by Tara McGowan, PhD

“Fukuba Bisei was Under-Secretary in the Office of Rites in 1868, and instructor to the Meiji Emperor in matters of Shinto ceremonial. Along with Vice-Minister of Rites Kamei Koremi, he was among the chief officials responsible for the shinbutsu bunri (“separation of Buddhism and Shinto”) policies. He was an adherent of the kokugaku (Nativist) teachings of Okuni Takamasa.” –James Ketelaar, Of Heretics and Martyrs in Meiji Japan, Princeton University Press (1991)