About This Print
Print number thirty in the series illustrating fifty of Aesop's Fables. The fables, written and compiled by the Athenian slave Aesop in the fifth century BCE, have been described as tales simple enough for children and profound enough for adults.This print illustrates the fable in which a cock stolen by thieves pleads for its life by saying how useful he is to man by waking him each morning. Unfortunately for the cock, this gave the thieves an even better reason to kill it, teaching us that the safeguards of virtue are hateful to those with evil intentions.
Hagiwara, who had been familiar with Aesop's stories since he was a child, published the "Aesop Fables in Pictures" イソップ絵噺 series in 1976. The series, which took 20 years from conception to completion, was created using his intaglio techniques in woodblock carving, which allow for the expression of softer, freer lines that could not be achieved with conventional woodblock carving with chisels.
The Series "Aesop Fables"
Hagiwara, who had been familiar with Aesop's stories since he was a child, published the "Aesop Fables in Pictures" イソップ絵噺 series in 1976. The series, which took 20 years from conception to completion, was created using his intaglio techniques in woodblock carving, which allow for the expression of softer, freer lines that could not be achieved with conventional woodblock carving with chisels.
The below quote from Hagiwara, appearing in the book Bi no henro (Pigrimage of Beauty), speaks of his remembrances of the Fables from early childhood and his assimilation of the stories into his being and his directing these caricatures of the fables to adults.1
1 美の遍路 Bi no henro (Pilgrimage of Beauty), Hagiwara Hideo, Nihon Hōsō Shuppan Kyōkai, 1996, p. 73.
latest revision:
「イソップという呼び名。このやさしく、親しいひびきをもった名前を、私が知ったのは、いくつの頃であったろう。思い出そうと、つとめてみても、まったく徒労に終わってしまう。生まれたときから一緒であり、子供の頃から、今日まで、私の体内に同化しているようにさえ思えるのである。（中略）これらの寓話の主役は、鳥獣類の小動物であり、われわれの祖先の頃から、親しい関係にあったもばかりである。可愛らしい役者たちが演ずる風刺劇は、人間の生き様を、あれやこれやと語ってくれる。一つ一つが、人間社会の縮図であり、戯画を見るようである。（中略）これは、私の鳥獣戯画であり、大人に捧げる絵本でもある。」
1 美の遍路 Bi no henro (Pilgrimage of Beauty), Hagiwara Hideo, Nihon Hōsō Shuppan Kyōkai, 1996, p. 73.
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Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #2555 |
| Title or Description | 泥棒たちと雄鶏 Dorobū tachi to ondori The Thief and the Cock |
| Series | イソップ絵噺 Aesop's Fables in Pictures |
| Artist | Hagiwara Hideo (1913 - 2007) |
| Signature |  |
| Seal | |
| Publication Date | 1976 |
| Edition | 6/50 |
| Publisher | self-published |
| Carver | self-carved |
| Printer | self-printed |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | excellent |
| Genre | sosaku hanga (creative print) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | |
| H x W Paper | 13 1/16 x 14 15/16 in. (33.2 x 35.6 cm) |
| H x W Image | 7 9/16 x 9 1/2 in. (19.2 x 24.1 cm) |
| Collections This Print | |
| Reference Literature | |
8/12/2021 created
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