The top half of a vertical diptych, this print depicts, as the title suggests, a beautiful woman reading a letter, probably from a lover. In her mouth she holds a piece of paper with a few characters written on it - what this means we can only imagine. The different patterns on the kimono layers are a highlight of the print, as are the fine kewari hairline carving and "distressed" rich dark mica background.

This is a reproduction of a print probably originally published by Aritaya Seiemon in the 1840s. The artist, Kikugawa (or "Kikukawa") Eizan (1787-1867), was a follower of Utamaro, although he was never actually the great artist's pupil. He created many printed bijin-ga (美人画, pictures of beautiful women) in the 1830s, but eventually gave up printmaking for painting.