Soshu Hakone no kosui (Lake Hakone in Sagami Province), from the series: "Fugata sanjurokkei” (Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji), nishiki-e, signed: zen Hokusai Iitsu hitsu (also translated as: saki no Hokusai Iitsu hitsu). The signature is located to the right of the series and image title cartouche, no publisher’s seal, but Nishimuraya Yohachi is generally accepted as the publisher, no censor seal. Sheets with two-tone house roofs, in which the colour boundaries are observed and the upper characters in the cartouche appear clearly, belong to the early prints. However, it is not only the wear of printing blocks that determines the printed image, but also the care and skill of the printer. There are two conspicuous features that make it possible to check if an impression has been printed from original blocks. The colour plate for the green overprinting of the front central bushes shows a break to its lower centre, where it ends at a transverse ridge. And the base plate is broken in the middle at the upper edge of the second cloud protruding into the picture from the top right in the foreground. In Gordon Friese’s opinion, the present sheet made available to him as a photograph was printed from the original woodblocks. It shows two-tone house roofs. The upper characters in the cartouche are squashed. The colour borders are observed. A striking feature of this print is a distinct brown overprint on the upper half of the two front bushes in the centre. Although this occurs in a few other prints, Friese never observed a comparable intensity to that of the present sheet. The colours are vivid and in good condition. The impression is also good. The sheet is trimmed to the right and at the bottom, and backed. A vertical centrefold has been stabilised with adhesive tape on the reverse. The sheet is a slightly stained, 24.2 x 36.5 cm, (CT)