54
‘the Pages ... reVeal an intiMate acQuaintance With the JaPanese character, aMong Both the uPPer anD the loWer classes, in toWn anD countrY’
186. laWson, Kate, lady. highways and homes of Japan. London and Leipzig: Unwin Brothers, Limited, The Gresham Press for T. Fisher Unwin, 1910.
£295
8vo (217 x 142mm). original green cloth, upper board blocked in dark green with ruled border and central vignette of a mother and child in winter dress, and lettered in gilt, spine blocked with design sin black and gilt and lettered in gilt, top edges trimmed, others uncut; pp. 352; title printed in red and black, colour- printed portrait frontispiece of Princess Kitashirakawa in old ceremonial court dress, retaining tissue guard, and 50 monochrome half-tone
plates, all photographs by lawson,
after line-
illustrations in the text; spine slightly darkened, extremities very lightly rubbed, some occasional
spotting or marking, index l. 22/7 clumsily opened causing tear,
otherwise a very good copy in the original cloth.
First edition. an account of Japan in the late Meiji period by lady lawson, who was a member of the Japan society and the red cross society of Japan. a great admirer of Japan, who had learnt Japanese and is pictured in the book in traditional Japanese dress, lady lawson states in her first chapter that, ‘i had made up my mind before leaving india [for Japan] to see as much as possible of the inner life of the people of Dai Nippon, and soon after my arrival i discovered that i must identify myself either with the Japanese or with the europeans — it is impossible to be persona grata with both; for most residents affect indifference to things
light
Japanese, listening with an air of boredom when one waxes enthusiastic over the art and traditions of Japan, so that i found it somewhat depressing to spend much time with people who tried to persuade me that there was nothing worth seeing in the country, until sometimes i felt as if i had made a mistake in going there. consequently i made the most of various letters of introduction from kind anglo-indian friends to officials in the Foreign office and naval Department at tokyo, and in this way i soon made many Japanese friends; and both during my first visit, and my later and more recent one, i was admitted to private functions in Japanese homes, at which no foreign lady had ever before been present. the chapters following this one are mostly written from notes taken during my second visit to the island empire’ (p. 32). the title belies the comprehensive overview of Japan at an important point in its history which the work provides, through chapters on Japanese social life and hospitality; ‘Jujutsu: the art of self-Defence’; ‘sports, Pastimes, and games’; ‘language and education’; ‘Japanese Women, Dress, and Family Matters’; feasts and festivals; music and theatre; earthquakes; ‘the red cross society of Japan’; the army, navy and government; economic and political matters, etc., and the work concludes with chapters on ‘Makers of new Japan’ and ‘the Future of Japan’. Highways and Homes of Japan is richly illustrated with the author’s own photographs, which demonstrate great skill.
a contemporary reviewer in the The Geographical Journal judged that, compared to other recent works on the subject, ‘lady lawson’s book stands on the basis of more ample knowledge, and is itself more ample than these, for the pages are fairly closely printed and reveal an intimate acquaintance with the Japanese character, among both the upper and the lower classes, in town and country it is written in a sympathetic spirit, and is free of the patronizing tone of those authors who have appeared to regard the Japanese rather as primitive savages than as they are. it is beautifully illustrated, and though in the bulk it deals with social topics, from government and religion to customs and superstitions, the picturesque scenic setting of the life of the people is adequately described’ (vol. 37 (1911), p. 554).
Nachod 2827; W.A. Slade ‘Bibliography of China, Japan and the Philippine Islands’ in, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 122 (1925), p. 239; Theakstone p. 157.
187. lear, edward and John GoUld. White headed eagle (haliaeetus leucocephalus). original hand-coloured lithograph for John gould’s ‘Birds of europe’, printed by c. hullmandel, 1832-37. 530 x 360 mm.
£2,500
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