Japan and Her People. - 1902

1902. Philadelphia, John C. Winston, [1902]. Two volumes, 8vo. Original red cloth, upper board blocked in gilt with Japanese-style designs of flying cranes and cherry blossom sprays, spines lettered and decorated in gilt, top edges gilt, others trimmed, fabric page markers, red cloth wrappers, spines lettered in gilt; pp. x, 377; vi, 374, titles printed in red and black, photogravure frontispieces and 48 photogravure plates, all with printed tissue guards, some tinted, by Gilbo & Co, and one folding colour-printed lithographic map, bound to throw clear; wrappers and lower edges of boards little spotted, otherwise a very good set. First edition, the imprint variant in red cloth (the other one is in blue cloth). Hartshorne (1860-1957) was born in Philadelphia to the Quaker physician Henry Hartshorne (1823-1897) and his wife Mary Elizabeth (1823-1886). Theakstone notes that she 'lived for three years in Japan, and wrote of her time there, providing advice to persons going to Japan for the first time' (p. 126), and the work describes Japanese life and culture at the opening of the twentieth century, with descriptions of the major cities and advice for would-be travellers. The final chapter of volume II is dedicated to 'Formosa' (Taiwan), since, 'Last year Formosa celebrated her sixth Japanese birthday, the anniversary of the treaty of Shimonoseki, by which the island was ceded to Japan as part of China's indemnity for the war' (p. 345). In a footnote, the author adds that, 'It was the wish of the publishers that this chapter should be written by Dr. Inazo Nitobé, head of the Bureau of Products and Industries in Formosa. As this proved impossible, Mrs. Nitobé has kindly given me access to numerous personal letters from Dr. Nitobé, on which I have drawn freely in preparing the following pages' (loc. cit.). The account covers Yokohama, Tokyo, Karuisawa, Nikko, Hokkaido, Hakone, Atami, Nagoya, Ise, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Nagasaki, and Kagoshima. Anna Hartshorne resided in Tokyo for several years. In 1900 she assisted her friend Tsuda Umeko, the feminist and educator, to set up Tsuda College (Joshi Eigaku Juku) for Japanese women in Tokyo. Theakstone p. 125.