Zaalbooks - old & rare, literature, travel, horses & horsemanship, utrecht, books on books
antiquarian bookdealer
old & rare, literature, travel, horses & horsemanship, utrecht, books on books
 Nederlandse versie
 Bond Van Handelaren In Oude Boeken


Obrechtstraat 4
3572EE, UTRECHT
The Netherlands
Tel +31 6 42600325
@ info@zaalbooks.nl
CoC 30183562
VAT NL176385307B01

IDeal Paypal
Creditcards

The Princes Fire-Flash and Fire-Fade. Japanese Fairy Tale Series No. 14.
Author

T(homas) H. (Kate) James (translator)
PublisherTokyo (17 Kami Negishi): Takejiro Hasegawa, , ca 1917
Edition
Weight60 gram
CF
Keywords sprookjes, Japan, fairy tales, Märchen, contes, Japanese Fairy Tale Series, Takejiro Hasegawa , Kate James, sagen, mythologie
Booknumber 21435
Category's Literature (English)
Child & Youthbooks (Fairytails)
Culture History (Folklore)
Child & Youthbooks (English)
Culture History (Mythology)
Old & Rare (20th Century)
Child & Youthbooks (20th Century)
Literature (Illustrated)
Culture History (Asia)
Literature (Asia)
Literature (Fine Print & Modern Illustrated Books)

14 Folded crêpe paper sheets, including the covers (10,4 x 15,3 cm). Sheets with very detailed, coloured woodblocks and english texts, bound/sewed with silk threads, spine covered with silk type fabric.

The “Japanese Fairy Tales Series” books were published between 1885 and 1930. They were published as children’s books (crêped paper was thought to better withstand the children’s wear) or as souvenirs for foreigners, However, they were also intended for markets outside of Japan and distributed by a.o. Maruzen (Tokyo), Brentano's (New York), Shepherds (London), Ernst Bojesens (Copenhague) and H. Honig (Netherlands). Apart from the books in English, there are also versions in other languages (a.o. in German, French, Spanish, Swedish and Dutch). It is estimated that more than 250 different books were produced, usually no more than 400 to 500 copies per title. The first series (Nos 1 – 25) were originally published between 1885 and 1903. The “The Princes Fire-Flash and Fire-Fade”, No 14 of that first series, was originally published in 1888 and our copy is probably a reprint from ca 1917. The editor of these books, Takejiro Hasegawa (1853-1938) had already a long association with Westerners in Tokyo and that induced him to print these books with texts in Western languages. He commissioned a number of (often very prominent) foreigners the translation of these works, a.o. Lafcadio Hearn, Basil Hall Chamberlain, James C. Hepburn and Mrs. Kate James. Most of the woodblock printing for these books was executed by the Komiya family. This work contains 11 wood block colour illustrations, of which 3 full page. The illustrator of this volume is Sensei Eitaku. These books are so-called Ehon books (Japanese picture book), bound in the traditional fukuro-toji (pouch binding) style. The sheets of crêpe (chirimen) paper, sewn together, made up a chirimen-bon. The washi (paper) that was used, was usually made from mulberry wood. These sheets are in the usual way printed one side only (text and coloured woodblocks, the whole enclosed within a double-line border). They were first completed in plain paper format, then crêped and only then the sheets (pouches) were sewn together. This binding was executed in the yamato-toji style by means of small ribbon ties through four small holes (sometimes two, but silk knot binding in our copy four). The binding ties are crossed in an x-pattern on the front and back and the spine is (as usual with these four-holes binding ) covered with very thin paper. The format of our copy is slightly larger than the so-called “small size” books of the Fairy Tales Series - the standard size of those books seems to be 10,3 x 15,2 cm. Because of the crêping process, formats may sometimes be slightly different. In all, there seem to exist 6 really different formats for these books. The colophon is printed in Japanese on the rear side of the front cover and states a.o. publisher, date, author and woodblock printer, with an additional “Copyright reserved” (in English). Initially these books were published under the "Kobunsha" imprint; around 1890 the imprint wass changed to T. Hasegawa. Our copy has the Takejiro Hasegawa’s imprint (most external line of the colophon). As later reprints usually contained the same colophon as the first edition, it is difficult to put a date on a book or to single out a first edition (anyhow, crêpe paper copies after 1893 are no first editions as these were all plain paper productions). On these books see: Frederic Sharf: Takejiro Hasegawa, Peabody Museum, 1994, and Michael S. Hollander, Antiquarian Book Monthly Review (ABMR) , Vol IX, No. 9, Issue 101, 1982, pp. 331~364. The story of this fairy tale is about Prince Fire-flash, who is a great fisherman, and his younger brother, Prince Fire-fade, who is a great hunter. One day they change their utensils, but Prince Fire-fade loses his fish-hook. Fire-flash is very angry and wants his hook back. The Wise Old Man puts him in a boat and he reaches the Sea-King’s palace in the underworld, where he marries Princess Pearl and gets back the fish hook. He returns to his brother with the 2 jewels with which he can rule the waters and subdue his older brother, who is still angry, but finally submits to his younger brother. A few waterstains, one stab of lower stitching on front cover without threads turning up, but sheets secure, upper and lower 8 mm of paper covering spine bit damaged, but otherwise a nice copy of this exquisite publication with bright woodblocks. Rare.

Prijs € 175.00
    






Zaal Books © All rights reserved. All prices on this website are VAT inclusive.
development by inforvision