1895 JAPANISCHE MÄRCHEN AUF KREPPPAPIER NR. 8 URASHIMA DER FISCHERJUNGE Hasegawa

I have here for sale one of the Japanese Fairy Tales series published by T Hasegawa in Japan between 1885 and 1922.  This one is No. 8 in the series and is entitled URASHIMA, THE FISHER BOY .  It was translated into English by B H Chamberlain.  Each one of the tales is printed on crepe paper (chirimen-bon) has a colour illustrated front and rear cover and illustrations throughout.   No date stated but it was printed around 1895.

Hasegawa Takejirō was an innovative Japanese publisher specializing in books in European languages on Japanese subjects. Hasegawa employed leading foreign residents as translators and noted Japanese artists as illustrators, and became a leading purveyor of export books and publications for foreign residents in Japan.  The books were illustrated by Kobayashi Eitaku until his death in 1890, and by various other artists afterwards.  By 1903, the series reached 28 volumes in two series. Most of the stories were based on well-known Japanese folk tales, but some of the later books, including several by Lafcadio Hearn, are thought to have been invented rather than translated, or perhaps combine elements of several folk tales.  The books continued to be reprinted, sometimes with variant titles, for several decades.

Crepe paper pages bound with white silk thread.  28 pages long.  In very good condition.  15.5 x 10.5 cm.

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