The site url and title "ukiyoe auction records" is somewhat misleading for at least four separate reasons.
First, although we have included the auction records from as many ukiyo-e auction catalogues as we could find (a list of included auction catalogues can be found as a pdf file), the site creator is under no illusions that he has captured all historical ukiyo-e auction results. For example, the missing auction catalogue list as a pdf shows all the additional catalogues of which he is aware the prints from which are not currently included on the site. A glaring gap is obviously the many Japanese auction catalogues, particularly those dating from the period between 1915 to 1935, as well as various French and German catalogues that are missing. Finally, no doubt, there are additional important catalogues of which he is completely unaware and which are not included on the missing auction catalogue list. So despite best efforts, this site is not encyclopedic in its coverage. Perhaps, between John Resig's ukiyo-e.org site, other museum collections not currently covered by ukiyo-e.org, and this site, these resources might cover a majority of existing consequential ukiyo-e prints of the covered artists. Obviously, the hope is to add information from additional, currently missing, auction catalogues to the site in the future.
Second, the website actually goes beyond auction catalogues and provides information on prints illustrated in early ukiyo-e books or those referenced or illustrated in exhibition catalogues. Many of these prints have never appeared in an auction catalogue or were listed in an auction catalogue without an illustration because the print had been reproduced in an earlier well-known book or exhibition catalogue (such as the Vignier & Inada catalogues issued between 1909 and 1914 which documented the celebrated Expositions d'Estampes Japonaises at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs). In the 1920s and 1930s, most serious ukiyo-e print collectors had access to these early scholarly works and exhibition catalogues. That is perhaps less true today since these works are long out of print (and can be difficult to locate). In addition, we cover (where we have had access to them) prints contained in later dealer catalogues (and important prints referred to on various dealer websites from around the world).
Third, as mentioned initially in the general introduction, while we have included the records of prints contained in auction catalogues for many ukiyo-e artists, this site is not exhaustive and does not attempt to cover every ukiyo-e artist. As noted previously, we have not included the auction catalogue records of prints by Hokusai, Hiroshige, Kunisada, Kuniyoshi, or Yoshitoshi. The question may be asked, why include the artists that are included but not these other artists? As previously discussed, the answer to that question was principally one of practicality. The artists whose records this site covers are, for the most part, "Primitive Period" ukiyo-e artists (working from circa 1680 to 1765) and "Golden Age" ukiyo-e artists (working from circa 1765 to 1810-20). In the case of the covered artists, copies of their prints typically exist only in comparatively limited numbers (in some cases a single copy, in other cases perhaps as many as a half dozen or so copies). Further, in many instances, it was often the case that prints by many of these artists were illustrated, even in early auction catalogues.
In contrast, the number of a given Hiroshige, or Hokusai or Kunisada print in auction catalogues is, typically, a vastly greater number (as an example, many of the references in various auction catalogues to Hokusai's Kirifuri waterfall print can be found here (or as a pdf file) and to Hiroshige's prints of Mishima and Shono from the original 53 Stations of the Tokaido can be found here and here (or here and here as pdf files).) The inclusion of listings of prints for these artists would add relatively little useful information other than showing the very substantial number of extant copies of prints for these post-1800 print artists. But most problematic is that (as can be seen) most copies of prints by these artists contained in early auction catalogues were only rarely illustrated ("[I]") and the catalogue descriptions were, in the nature of things, largely unhelpful or unintentionally misleading. In sum, this site is concerned with prints by ukiyo-e artists where the number of copies of a given print appears to be manageably limited and where an interested user of the website may have some chance to use it to discover useful information. For artists that are not included, it may be worthwhile going to www.artnet.com. As previously noted, Artnet.com includes auction sales by artists not included here with descriptions of prints (and, where they exist, illustrations). The drawback to Artnet is it is a commercial site and it only covers prints sold since approximately 1990 (whereas this site goes back into the nineteenth century).
Finally, the site does not cover ukiyo-e paintings that may have been sold at these auctions or exhibitions nor (for the most part) does it include surimono or ehon (books).