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The artist Kunisada II produced several series of woodblock prints to illustrate what is often considered the world’s first novel, Genji Monogatari or The Tale of Genji. Written in the eleventh century by Lady Murasaki Shikibu of the Japanese imperial court, this tale recounts the life and loves of an idealized courtly hero. Kunisada II’s prints, produced almost 800 years after the novel was written, provide a useful perspective on early modern Japanese culture (Edo) and its borrowing of elements from the older, courtly culture of Genji’s time and adaptation into newer, popular forms. Acquired in 1985, this portfolio contains prints from 51 out of the 54 chapters from the novel. This portfolio was the first major acquisition of historical Japanese prints by the University of Alberta Art Collection, which now contains more than 400 historical and contemporary Japanese prints. The three missing chapter illustrations are chapters 43 (Kobai or "Rose Plum"), 47 (Agemaki or "Trefoil Knots"), and 54 (Yime no ukihashi or "The Floating Bridge of Dreams").