The publication date is partially
obscured by the binding, but can still be clearly identified.
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Book title: Iwami
Jutaro Ichidaiki (岩見重太郎一代記)
English
title: A Biography of Iwami Jutaro
Publication
date: February 31st, 1889
Size:
6.5 x 4.5 inches
Condition: Very
good plus
This set is SOLD, but I
have a fair number of books of this type. Contact me for details.
Iwami Jutaro is a legendary hero
of the 16th century, serving under the daimyo General Toyotomi
Hideyoshi. It is not clear who the author of this edition was. It was
customary to give the name of the author, artist and publisher on the
cover of the second or last volume of such publications, but this set
carries only the words "金英堂梓" (Kineido Azusa), without saying what part
she played in the production of this book. Since her name crops up in
relation to a 19th-century Tokyo bookstore it seems more likely that
she commissioned or published, rather than wrote, the book. Japan's National Institute of
Informatics (which has taken over from NACSIS as the main
bibliographical record of Japanese books) does not record this work,
but that is not much of a surprise; publications of this kind were
basically ephemera, and only a fraction of them have been properly
catalogued. However, it does list two 19th-century biographies of
Jutaro, one (in a two-volume set, like this one) by Shonosuke Onishi,
and one by Kinnosuke Maki. Only one copy of each of these is recorded,
and I have not had an opportunity to view either. It is possible that
this is taken from (or is an edition of) one of these two versions.
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The books
themselves are in excellent condition, with no worming or other
significant flaws, which affect so many books of this period and of
this type. The last picture shows the column of print giving the date
of publication. It is partially-obscured by the binding, but still
clearly legible.
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