American University Archives & Special Collections holds hundreds of original and several reprinted ukiyo-e prints dating from the 17th through 20th centuries. Nearly all are bound as complete (or nearly complete) print series and several are individual loose ukiyo-e prints, either in a complete set of the series or as single prints. Many of the Edo and Meiji era masters are represented, including Hiroshige, Hokusai, Kunichika, Kuniyoshi, Tokuriki, Toyokuni, Kunisada, Yoshitoshi, and more. Most of the major ukiyo-e themes are represented in the collections, such as beauties, Suikoden stories, actors, erotica, travel, landscape/nature prints; however, the strongest themes represented are without a doubt travel, specifically Tokaido Road series and other landscape prints.
There are also original Japanese manuscripts, illustrated books, sugoroku games, and maps represented. We also have many secondary sources from Asian and western authors about Japanese and Thai art, art history, and history.
The prints are contained in four separate collections:
Selected prints, illustrated books, and manuscripts have been digitized and made available online. We are working to digitize the entirety of our Japanese prints, illustrated books, and manuscripts holdings in Archives & Special Collections.
The Charles Nelson Spinks collection, described in this guide, is cataloged by title or print series in the Library’s catalog. To search for these titles, set the search profile to Archives & Special Collections and keyword search for the phrase using quotation marks "Gift of Charles Nelson Spinks". Most of the ukiyo-e prints have call numbers beginning with NE1325.
The Dorothy A. and Charles A. Moore Japanese Woodblock Print collection, Barbara Fahs Charles collection, and Purchased prints have some descriptive information available upon request while we are working on uploading them into our digital collection.
Several hundred prints from Archives & Special Collections are currently available in our Digital Collections site with more being added on a rolling basis. Access the Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books, and Manuscripts digital collection directly using the link below.
Please contact us via the Contact Us form on our website. Please let us know your question with as much detail as possible.
We are open to researchers via appointment Mondays-Thursdays 10am-4pm. To view any of our prints in-person, please contact us to set up an appointment via the Contact Us form on our website. Please let us know what you are interesting in seeing by sharing the call number from the Library's catalog or detailing what you are looking for so we can assist you in navigating our holdings. Please wait for a response to confirm your appointment before visiting us in person.
Archives & Special Collections staff is able to host a class visit in our Reading Room to view the physical prints. Please contact us via the Contact Us form on our website to discuss your ideas with the Archivist.