To the moon with no inns along the way

LITTROW, Giovanni [ie Joseph Johann von]. Notizie d'un Viaggio nella Luna. Milan, Lorenzo Sonzogno [1831?]. 12mo disbound, untrimmed; 88pp, a diagram in the text. A little browning, no half title called for. Au$750

First edition? Only edition? We are told this was compiled from a March to May 1831 series in the Biblioteca Italiano in turn taken from the Gazzetta Vienese and I can't find any other form of it until another Italian edition in 1872. We are promised this is serious exposition on a trip to the moon by the distinguished astronomer, not fiction, and this this case it seems to be mostly true. But then, we were promised the same thing with Herschel's moon discoveries.
Littrow begins with some of the difficulties: the time it will take to get there at the rate of the fastest carriage, or even a ship pushed by a hurricane; the lack of inns with decent food along the way; the lack of air.
Worldcat finds two locations in Italy and possibly one in America. The later edition is easier to find.

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The great moon hoax in Italy

Herschel. [LOCKE, Richard Adams]. Pubblicazione Completa delle Nuove Scoperte di Sir John Herschel nel Cielo Australe e nella Luna. Traduzione dal Francese. Milan, Lorenzo Sonzogno 1836. Octavo disbound, untrimmed; 104pp. With half title. Au$750

This comes from the anonymous French version by Fourierist Victor Considerant and Raymond Brucker. Their publishers, Masson & Duprey, tell us they have made a deal with Herschel's publisher Murray and promise that the full work in four volumes will be published on the same day as the London edition. When you're handed a delightful hoax run with it. All this is repeated here.
Locke's account in the New York Sun in August 1835 of Herschel's discovery with his revolutionary new telescope of life on the moon was the first definite report by a credible scientist and the news spread faster than a trip to the moon would take. The French might have been first with a translation - might have - but it seems to me that no-one took to this discovery with greater relish than Italy. Accounts of varying forms blossomed in cities all over Italy. This one is quite handsome, specially when compared with the plain Jane New York original.
Worldcat finds two locations outside Italy.

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Herschel. [LOCKE, Richard Adams]. Nuove Scoperte Fatte nella Luna dal Celebre Herschel : ed Osservazioni del Signor Arago ... Bologna, Nobili e Comp 1836. Octavo disbound, untrimmed; 32pp (last blank). A little browning; no half title called for. Au$750

These Bologna publishers are thorough spoil sports and have based this around the expose address by Arago - if there was such a thing. On page 25 we read about the French versions (a rough translation): To make this deceptive mockery more complete, it ... now runs through the streets always with the name of the illustrious Herschel on the front. By page 25 the reader has presumably forgotten our title page.
Worldcat finds no entry for this, neither did a search of Italian union catalogues.

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Herschel. [LOCKE, Richard Adams]. Maravigliose Osservazioni su la Luna Recentement Fatte da Giovanni Herschel. Traduzuione dal Francese. Reggio, Torreggiani e Compagno March 1836. 45x29; four pages, disbound with remant of binding tab. Folded; some browning, a tear in the centre fold and small holes and splits elsewhere. Au$750

This begins with the questions of Arago but shows that now that the whole account has been translated doubt has been banished. But the writer confesses at the end that they don't see how any creature can have arms, legs and wings.
Worldcat finds no location, neither did my searches of Italian union catalogues. There is probably a copy in the Museo Galileo but I can't get the catalogue to work.

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Herschel. [LOCKE, Richard Adams]. Il Mondo Della Luna Novella Telo-Micro-Scopica. n.p. n.d. [1836?]. 47x58cm broadside with lithograph illustration over descriptive text. Folded, left margin trimmed to form a tab showing it was at sometime bound into a book. A little browning, rather good. Au$1250

Here we have handsome portraits on good heavy paper of what Herschel saw. We're told this was printed with permission but whose?
The New York Sun published one or two separate lithographs after the fact (one illustration I found credited to the Sun exists as a Milan lithograph - were there both?); one of the British pamphlets had a crude woodcut; Thierry Freres of Paris issued a lithograph; the most reproduced now are the views by Leopoldo Galluzzo in Naples which mixed in a trip by earthlings to the moon; no doubt there were others.
Our print remains mysterious. There might be a copy in a Milan collection but I'm not smart enough to find it.

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Kataoka Noboru. カメラ社会相 [Kamera Shakaiso]. Tokyo, Bungei Shijosha 1929 (Showa 4). 20x14cm publisher's cloth blocked in blind, red and gilt, card slipcase (some holes in the back hinge have been touched up by some wrong-headed owner; the box is quite browned); photo illustrations throughout. First and last couple of pages browned. An unnumbered copy of an edition of 500 copies. Au$200

I found a reference somewhere calling this a work of modernology, ie the study of ordinary people, their daily lives, what they do, what they use ... but I don't know that Kataoka had any connection to modernologist Kon Wajiro. I think it was a similar impulse from a different direction that sent Kataoka out on the street with his camera. He wrote, "I have a weapon called a camera. I snap a picture, and when I ask them to talk, most of them are soft-spoken and start talking about their lives, which is a real perk of being a photographer" (a crude translation). The first part photographs and interviews 93 people at work, including a woman bus conductor and gas pump attendant. After that it's not so interesting: celebrated worthies.
This was issued as an edition of 500 copies in a leather binding which might have been smart when new but the leather fell to pieces pretty fast. So it's not hard to find copies in ruin but not so easy to find a cloth binding in reasonable shape. My guess is that a few extra copies were put out in cloth.
The binding design is by Sakai Kiyoshi, I presume the writer credited with kick starting the ero-guro-nansu fad. Some of his books came from the same publisher.

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Architecture competition. 国際謝恩塔 [Kokusai Shaonto]. Tokyo, Koyosha 1924 (Taisho 13). 19x13cm, loose as issued in publisher's printed boards; 50 leaves, mostly plates printed on one side (actually 48 as two are double page carrying two numbers); renderings, elevations and plans. Wear to spine, dust marks or darkening to the very top edge of several plates, a decent secondhand copy. Au$150

Here are the winners and honourable mentions from a competition for a tower of gratitude for international aid after the 1923 earthquake. First and second prizes are graced with overwrought dramatics but are hardly radical. Things get more interesting after that.
One of the apparently endless series of small architecture monographs, Kenchiku Shashin Riuju. I wonder if anyone knows how many there were. Some are intriguing and some are pretty drab. Many require a dogged love of gateways and tea rooms. This one is up top.
Outside Japan, Worldcat finds an entry at Queensland University, dated 1929 for some reason, but the university's four entries for the title, including a microform, don't actually locate a copy.

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Tsuda Seifu. 華紋譜 : 楓之巻 [Kamonfu : Kaede no kan]. Kyoto, Honda Ichijiro 1900 (Meiji 33). 25x18cm publisher's colour printed wrapper, ribbon tied (cover marked, a bit worn, an old library label at the top of the front cover; colour woodcut designs on 40 pages (20 double leaves), two introductory leaves and one leaf of text and colophon at the end. Introductory leaves browned, final leaf stained at the top but the plate leaves all rather clean. Au$950

One of two volumes of this design album; the other was called flowers, this maple. I avoid incomplete design albums but sometimes even the firmest rule must be broken. The designs of the very young Tsuda Seifu are irrestistable. If you think that many of these designs are familiar that's because they have been copied decades later. Not all are free from the ruck of these textile pattern books that proliferated from the later 19th century on but more than enough are.
Tsuda Seifu was twenty when these were published and he lived long enough (97 or 98 years) to be reincarnated a few times as a western style painter, a Japanese painter, a proletarian artist ... I don't approve of quite a bit I've seen but I doubt he cares. Nor would anyone else once they've seen his early designs.

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Top secret

Akai Tsuneyoshi. 極秘六角雛形 [Gokuhi Rokkaku Hinagata]. Edo (Tokyo), Suharaya Mohei 1795 (Kansei 7). 29x20cm publisher's wrapper with printed title label (covers a little nibbled). 22 double leaves plus pastedowns accordian folding, all but two leaves are large working drawings that in several cases extend over a few leaves and can be opened out to long drawings (longer than I can illustrate here).. A bit of worming in the top margin of some leaves, nothing serious. Au$650

The title translates as 'Top secret hexagonal template'. According to the English abstract of a paper by Humoto Kazuyoshi (The Design of Eaves Camber in the Japanese Traditional Architecture, 2002) "Design of eaves has been considered to be very important to construct the exterior shape of the traditional Japanese architecture. While many Japanese architectural books were written in the Edo and Meiji eras, the book about eaves camber design was not found until 'Banshouke Kayaoisori Mitugousinri,' which was written by Tousai Kiko in 1864." Unfortunately the paper is in Korean and I can only find it as a photographic image. Our title does appear in the references but as a 1976 publication by a different author.
Worldcat finds only a manuscript copy in the Peabody Essex Museum.

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開化どどいつ [Kaika Dodoitsu]. n.p. (c1880?). 18x11cm publisher's colour woodcut wrapper; 10 double leaves (ie 20pp) with two verses and woodcuts per page. Modern looking stitching, some worming in the very corner of a few pages. Au$150

Enlightenment dodoitsu - that is, modern and up to date. Dodoitsu are popular verses or songs, often sort of the equivalent of vaudeville or music hall ditties. We have electricity, hot air balloons, oil lamps, the sewing machine, clocks among the subjects.
Cinii finds only one entry, at Kyushu University. They list the publisher as Sakurai Yasuichi but I can't get that indistinct small panel to read anything like that.

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Air defence. 防空絵とき [Boku Etoki]. Dai Nihon Boku Kyokai (Greater Japan Air Defence Association) 1942 (Showa 17). 18x26cm publisher's colour illustrated card wrapper; [5],109pp and colophon leaf, profusely illustrated throughout in colour. A very good copy. Au$450

I've been looking for a decent copy of this for a while and was surprised by how substantial it is when this arrived. It is printed on heavy, smooth paper which looks browned but that's its nature. An immense amount of information is packed into the illustrations, some of which would not matter so much once the bombs start falling. It might be good to know how far away the landing of a range of bomb sizes should be before they flatten you but difficult to put to practical purpose.
I remain baffled by the spider web on the cover, spiders are not usually the heroes. Does it mean that Japan will catch bombs like webs catch flies?

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Western hair

Horiguchi Otojiro. 西洋日本束髪獨結 (cover title 洋式婦人束髪法) [Seiyo Nihon Sokuhatsu Hitorimusubi]. Osaka, Horiguchi Otojiro 1885 (Meiji 18). 18x12cm publisher's colour illustrated boards and cloth spine; 22 double folded leaves, 17 full page engravings. Covers a bit rubbed, some natural browning of the paper here and there; rather good. Au$750

Maybe not the first book on western hairstyles in Japan - I found a record of a pamphlet published two months before this - but it's been a while since I opened a book new to me and was so surprised and delighted. The engravings are fine and well printed for a board cover book, often shoddy productions.
The western sokuhatsu hairstyle - various forms of plaited or loose buns drawn up on the head - was largely a sanitary and economic reform movement by a couple of distinguished medicos. Traditional hairstyles required a hairdresser and gallons of oil and tended to stay unwashed for quite some time. So in 1885 the Nihon Fujin Sokuhatsu-kai was founded and instructions began to appear.
Worldcat and NDL and Cinii find two later Tokyo editions - only in Japan - but I couldn't find any record of this one.

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Lolly jars. A group: catalogue and brochures and flyers from Nakajima Bensaku Shoten of their sweet jars, display cases, and other jars and bottles for retailers. The company 1920s? 19x27cm publisher's printed wrapper with metal punch holes; 18pp, illustrated throughout. The other pieces are about the same size or larger. All have been folded at some time. Au$120

Nakajima Bensaku was founded around the beginning of the century  and was until recently, may still be, in business and run by a Nakajima; though apparently no-one in Japan can blow the large globe jars anymore.

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Aviation. Luggage label (?) for West Australian Airways. n.p. c1930. 135x88mm. Remnants of album paper on the back but plenty of the original adhesive coating still there if you want to use it. Au$50

Obviously looted from some album. WA Airways was eaten in 1936 by Adelaide Airways, in turn quickly eaten by ANA.

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新撰 なぞなぞ合 [Shinsen Nazonazo Awase]. Maki Kin'nosuke 1885 (Meiji 18). 12x9cm publisher's wrapper with printed label; 20 double folded leaves (ie 40pp), illustrated title and introductory leaf, double page frontispiece and heaps of small illustrations everywhere else. The double folded leaves have an extra sheet inside for added durability. These extra leaves are recycled from some other work. Minor signs of use; a pleasing copy. Au$200

Visual riddles, usually involving torturous puns, have a long and brave history in Japan. In this cute little book the tradition has been brought right up to date: among the sake bottles and big noses I see a train, a hot air ballon, a wall clock, a postman, a steamship, and bearded westerners.
Worldcat found no copy. Cinii found one, at Tokyo University.

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西洋手品種本 : 奇々妙術 [Seiyo Tejina Tanehon : Kiki Myojutsu]. Osaka, Odate Riichi 1887 (Meiji 20). 13x10cm publisher's colour illustrated boards; 48pp, numerous engraved illustrations thoughout. Double folded leaves with an extra sheet inside for added durability. These extra leaves are recycled from some other work. This copy has somehow escaped the plain paper applied to the back cover; it is as issued and an excellent copy. Au$425

First edition of this treasury of western pastimes, crafts, tricks and useful secrets though it's hard to see how some of them are western, judging from a crude translation of the contents. I guess washing tatami and heating sake without fire are adapted for the local market. Walking across the ceiling must be a secret everyone needs to know. With some, a crude literal translation makes them even more baffling to me.
Worldcat finds no copies outside Japan.

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Shinkei Takashei (or Shiho Takase or Shizuka Kikusuitei). 新奇妙談 : 閻魔大王判決録 [Shin Kimyodan : Enma Daio Hanketsuroku]. Osaka, Hogyokudo 1887 (Meiji 20). 14x10cm publisher's colour illustrated boards; 94pp, numerous engraved illustrations throughout. Double folded leaves with an extra sheet inside for added durability. These extra leaves are recycled from some other work. A few insignificant flaws; a pleasing copy. Au$450

King Enma is the Japanese version of Yama, the king of hell and this is, the title tells us, a gathering of his judgments but who is that man in the top hat?
Leaving aside what is probably the first edition of this, published in 1883 in two volumes, it's easy to get lost in the 1887 printings of this intriguing little book. The other editions are not so little, they are the typical 46 size - 18 to 19cm high. The edition by Kikusuitei Shizukaetsu has a different cover and a frontispiece similar to ours but no sign of that sinister western gentleman. The edition by Kinsendo has an almost identical cover, a frontispiece without that sinister gentleman and no other illustrations. I don't know what the Suzuki Kinjiro edition looks like.
Also. It seems the 1883 edition has 17 chapters; the Kinsendo edition 18 chapters and ours 19 chapters. The extra chapter comes between four and five of the other version and seems to involve three men including our mystery man being savaged by a fox spiirit. The chapters leap from the present to the past and back again with what seems to be a lot of corruption and malfeasance on the part of the rich and powerful. I found a list of chapter headings and now I really want to be able to read it. So, to sum up: this is the best edition to have, with all those illustrations and the extra tale.
Takase was a troublemaking journalist and reformer who used a squillion pen names and did a couple of spells in prison. Later he turned to prison reform and founded Japan's first reformatory. This he turned into quite a large affair and apparently Kuroiwa Ruiko publicly damned him as a hypocrite with a lavish lifestyle and a string of ex-wives.
Worldcat finds no copy outside Japan.  *In the last picture here that sleeping man is about to have his penis cut off by his wife. No, I don't know why or what happened next.  If I did, I wouldn't tell you.

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Emile Gaboriau & Kuroiwa Ruiko 有罪無罪 : 仏蘭西小說 [Yuzai Muzai : Furansu Shosetsu]. Tokyo, Okawaya 1889 (Meiji 22). 18x13cm publisher's colour illustrated boards; 17 full page and two double page illustrations. Minor signs of use and some near invisible repairs, it's hard to tell where. An excellent, bright copy in a case by binder, writer and fastidious collector Atsuo Ikuta. Au$325

A reprint, a month after the first printing of Ruiko's adaptation of Gaboriau's Le Corde au Cou. He usually worked from English translations and how much Gaboriau remains in Ruiko's version is for someone who can read it in all three languages to answer. Ruiko was open about slashing, expanding and rewriting his material to fit what he wanted the novel to say.
This is a 'ball cover' (boru hyoshi, apparently a corruption of 'board') book, a signal of modernity and the Japanese equivalent of a yellowback: flimsy western style bindings with lithograph covers that rarely survive in good shape.
I don't know why this is subtitled as a French novel rather than a courtroom novel (the precurser to 'detective novel') which had been used on a Gaboriau/Ruiko novel the year before. I guess publishers were still feeling out what sold best. Worldcat finds no copies outside Japan: that Ohio entry is a microfiche.

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Catalogue - fireworks. Tamaya. "Gwanso" Tamaya. Fireworks Catalogue. Tokyo, Ganzo Tamaya (192-?). 19x14cm publisher's printed wrapper; eight double leaves (ie 16pp) of colour lithographs with added metallic inks. English text on the inside of both covers. Wrapper browned, mild signs of use. Au$1200

Rare, irresistable, and rare. Ganso Tamaya still make fireworks but I gather it's a modern company that took over the name while Tamaya, in this catalogue, claim a history of nearly 370 years. A view of daytime fireworks and a cute birds-eye of the works is followed by pictures of the treats that could go into daytime fireworks. Then come the eight pages of night fireworks with liberal splashes of silver ink.

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Exhibition - Dunedin 1865. Official Catalogue of the New Zealand Industrial Exhibition, 1865. Dunedin, for the Commissioners 1865. Octavo publisher's printed wrappers (a bit marked and frayed); 156,viii + 20 pages of adverts, folding plan. A pencil list of plants on the back wrapper; used but most acceptable. Au$450

New Zealand's first international exhibition, well before any other in this part of the world. Admittedly not a lot came from elsewhere apart from Tasmania and Britain but come they did. Tasmania sent more than all the other colonies combined.

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Yamagami Kishi. 世界未来戦双六 [Sekai Mirai-Sen Sugoroku]. Tokyo, Shogaku Gonensei 1937 (Showa 12). Colour broadside 54x789cm. Some browning and small holes in the folds, Au$300

Despite the grim colour scheme - a feature of the late thirties - and those terrifying children, this is a heart-racing view of future war. It was the new year gift from the elementary school magazine for 5th graders, Shogaku Gonensei.

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