“Dai-ji”(epigraph)is a printed copy of a handwritten short phrase at the opening page of an old Asian book, originally written by a socially famous person, like a scholar or a politician, as a recommendation of the book. In Japan, such custom in publishing books widely spread in Edo era, and still continued even in modernized society after Meiji restoration with development of new printing technique from the West.
In this article, author focused on books concerning to art published in Meiji era and analyzed some bibliographic elements in about 180 books with Dai-ji at the front page. It has become clear that improvement of reproducibility with help of photographic technology and reduction of producing cost had made publishing various types of Dai-ji easier than former age. Also this analysis shows close social relations between the book authors and Dai-ji writers.
View full abstract