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Oscar and Andre meet as they grow from childhood to becoming a young woman and a young man.
This illustration was published in the 62nd chapter of The Rose of Versailles. An image of Andre holding his sword was inserted in the center of the complete version published in 2006, but Shueisha Manga-Art Heritage has restored the image to its original state.
The big starry eyes, the curly blonde hair, the big ribbons, the roses blooming in the background, and the shining stars are just a few of the common girls' manga motifs incorporated in this spread. In spite of the monochrome style, or rather, owing to the monochrome style, a beautiful and sentimental world unfolds.
This work, which was drawn in 1973, was printed on a letterpress flatbed printing press dating from the 1960s. The unique texture is created when the artwork is printed on cotton paper with strong pressure. From the photo taken quite close up with a macro lens, you can see that the printing surface is engraved. Printed with a flatbed press, the stars in their eyes really begin to shine.
*Signature on prints (handwritten)
In 1967, Ikeda made her debut with Bara Yashiki no Shôjo while she was a student at Tokyo University of Education (now Tsukuba University). In 1972, her Margaret series The Rose of Versailles became a bestseller. In 1980, she won the Japan Cartoonists Association Award of Excellence for The Window of Orpheus. While in her forties, she decided to pursue a career in music, and in 1995, she enrolled in the Vocal Department of the Tokyo College of Music. Since graduating, she has been performing as a soprano singer and has appeared in numerous opera productions. She received France's Legion of Honour in 2009.
A historical romance story set in the Palace of Versailles in Paris during the French Revolution. The imperial princess Marie Antoinette marries into the Bourbon family of France from the Habsburgs of the Austrian Empire at the age of 14. She is escorted by Oscar François de Jarjayes, who is the youngest daughter of the Commander of the Royal Guards, but was raised as a man. The series has attracted a wide audience since it was first published. It was adapted for a play performed at Takarazuka in 1974. In 1979, the title was made into an animated television series.
Revisiting manga's roots with flatbed letterpress printing
Since its inception, the black and white storytelling medium known as manga has been produced by the letterpress, the most primitive method of printing. Even today, Shonen Jump and other manga magazines are created using the letterpress rotary printing method commonly known as katsurin.
However, flatbed letterpress machines, which were once frequently used for proof printing and small print jobs, are rarely in use today. These machines, especially those capable of printing in A2 size, are in very limited operation in Japan and around the world.
Is it possible to take manga, which has always been a medium optimized for letterpress, and turn it into artworks using the highest possible quality of letterpress?
This was the question we wanted to answer.
Pressing using a Heidelberg printing press manufactured in the 1960s
With the help of Kyodo Printing, a company which prints Shonen Jump, we found a working letterpress in Nagano Prefecture, as well as skilled staff who are capable of operating it. Using this German-made Heidelberg printing press from the 1960s, we use high pressure method to print on 100% cotton Gmund Cotton Max White art paper. This method produces a completely unique page surface with a physical effect that is impossible to achieve using offset printing, lithography, or silkscreen printing. Touching the paper makes palpable how the art is embossed into the page.
These collections were made with the purpose of passing down to future generations the increasingly rare machinery and techniques used to create the manga in addition to the artworks themselves.
The original box includes a blockchain-linked sales certificate
All works are registered to Startrail PORT, NFT management service. Works include a blockchain-linked sales certificate with an affixed NFC tag sticker (letterpress printed by Kazui Press). You can view the information recorded on the NFT by scanning the NFC tag sticker with a smartphone. We will send you your product in an original Shueisha Manga-Art Heritage box created by Misuzudo.
Work Size A2 (420 mm x 594 mm)
Paper Used Gmund Cotton Max White
Printing Method Letterpress printing
Package Contents
Main product
Blockchain-linked sales certificate (letterpress printed by Kazui Press, linked with NFC tag sticker)
Matte paper
Special paper to absorb harmful substances
Instruction manual
Storage case
