三四郎 (Sanshirō)

This is the book cover for the book 三四郎 (Sanshirō) in it's first edition, designed by Goyō Hashiguchi. It was written by Natsume Sōseki (夏目漱石) published on Asahi Shimbun from September 1st to December 29th in 1908, and published as a book in 1909 (Meiji 42).  The book is about the story of Ogawa Sanshirō (小川三四郎), who leaves his hometown in Kyushu to attend university in the city, experiencing various events and love story.

The cover features a light beige background,  the title 三四郎  printed in seal-script style within a red rectangular frame at the top. Below, four floral motifs are arranged vertically, with the flowers outlined in red and the leaves  in black. Underneath it, the stems combined together create geometric lines to form a frame, a small red owl sits at the bottom centre.