A thorough overview of a previously neglected genre of late-Meijii art a type of handmade multicolor book frontispieces known as kuchi-e . Merritt (emeritus, School of Art, Northern Illinois U.) and Yamada (Center of East Asia Studies, U. of Chicago; Japanese, College of DuPage) cover the history of kuchi-e , their subjects, styles, and artists. The discussion includes many aspects of Meiji culture and society and analysis of how kuchi-e related to other trends in late 19th-century Japanese art. Illustrated with examples of the art. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)