Du pinceau à la typographie

This is a collection of ten articles written by Japanese scholars specializing in the history, technology and various uses of written text and graphics in Japan, and represents the latest findings in their fields of expertise, which include calligraphy, classical literature, and the history of writing, painting and engraving, and printing and editing.

The authors focus on such topics as the factors behind the evolution from manuscript copying to moveable typeset printing, the use of illustrated text, and the causes, means and consequences of the appearance of modern printed books. The articles are arranged for the purpose of guiding readers from the first woodblock printings of the eighth century, through the development of illustrated literature during the Tokugawa period and the birth of modern bookmaking and printing of the mid-nineteenth century on, right up to the computerized rendition of Chinese characters in today’s age of the Internet.

Furthermore, the carefully presented discussion and the many examples offered contribute all the more to making this volume a very useful reference work and an interesting introduction to a subject heretofore virtually unknown to French readers interested in things Japanese or the history of printing in general.