THE BEAR-WORSHIPPERS OF YEZO: And the Island of Karafuto [Saghalin] or The Adventures of the Jewett Family and Their Friend Oto Nambo + Manuscript version of similar story.

Item Details

Boston, New York, Lee and Shepard, Dillingham, 1884, 70's or 80's, Hardcover

1st edition, Very Good

1/ THE BEAR-WORSHIPPERS OF YEZO: And the Island of Karafuto [Saghalin] or The Adventures of the Jewett Family and Their Friend Oto Nambo.

Boston, Lee and Shepard and New York, Dillingham, First edition, 1884. XIII, 304pp. Hardcover. Pictorial boards in front and back, 9.2 x 7 inches, 304 pages. One hundred and eighty illustrations by Rinzo and by Ichiske Hamada. The third of Greey'is three books on Japan. Greey also has an ad at the back of the book, about his personal collection of Asian artifacts, which is open to the public.

A rare early primary resource of the author's true experiences & life among the Ainu of Northern Japan. This early English language work is a very good insight to the aboriginal Ainu, customs, habits, life style, way of hunting, beliefs, great villages such as Hakodate, Kawanishi, mountain places, West coast of Karafuto, Eastern coast of Yezo. An excellent and comprehensive reference, profusely illustrated. There are very few books in English on the Ainu of this early period. A valuable insight to the life and time Edward Greey [1835-1888], who spent some eleven years in Japan as a member of the British Naval Expedition. Thereafter he immigrated to the United States and went into business in New York.

from Greey's introduction:

" The present volume, the last of the series, is devoted to the manners and customs of the bear-worshippers of Yezo, and of the five tribes inhabiting Karafuto (Saghalin). When I first visited the latter island in 1853, it was a portion of the Empire of Japan ; but in 1875 it was ceded to Russia, in exchange for the Chishima (Kurile) Islands. I spent nearly a year cruising in the northern waters, and during that time became well acquainted with the people of Karafuto and Yezo ; on one occasion travelling with a boat’s crew from Soya to Hakodate, and being the guest of the fierce-visaged but gentle savages. Since then Russia has made a penal settlement of Karafuto, and two-thirds of the natives have nominally become Christians."

 

Bumped corners, some loss to the edges of the cover illustration. The binding has been reinforced with leather along the spine, resulting in a very tight binding. The outer edges of the pages have a light browning, otherwise the pages and plates are in very good condition.

 

2/ Manuscript by Akira, 10.5 x 7.75 inches, 45 hand-written pages (+8 empty pages) in a Japanese style journal. Red illustrated cloth covers, bound with ties.

4/ 3- page Happy Birthday letter from Akira to a Chris laid in, dated June 21, but no year. A large color illustration of two bears and a person in front of a mountain (by Akira?) covers most of the first page. Akira explains, that he couldn't finish the book in time for her birthday and he is sending a part of the book instead.

He then writes his own translation of the beginning of the book THE BEARS IN MT. NAMTOKO, by Kenji Miyazawa. The text is the same as the first three pages of the manuscript. 

5/ Also laid in are five 4.3 x 3 inches of a group of friends or students (from the 70's or 80's). Probably including Akira and Chris. The backs of the photos are blank.