GLIMPSES OF UNFAMILIAR JAPAN. [Complete Two-Volume Set] by HEARN, Lafcadio

Leipzig 1910,20 Tauchnitz. Red cloth, gold spine titles,very good, clean & solie, 2 volume set, 319+320 p.,11.5 x 16 cm., vol.1 spine a bit faded, contents very bright and clean, no issues, complete. Collection of British Authors Vol. 3994. . *** **** *** . . HEARN'S MOST ICONIC & EARLIEST STUDY OF JAPAN . . * The set contains thirty-seven excellent short stories, fairy tales and essay, all about Japan, their customs, superstitions, ghostly tales, strange beliefs, festivals, iconic stories and fascinating tales, translated and explained only as Hearn could do. . *** CONTENTS: . Vol.1: . My First Day in the Orient; Writing of Kobo Daishi; Jizoh; A Pilgrimage to Enoshima; At the Market of the Dead; Bon-Odori; The Chief City of the Province of the Gods; Kitauki: The Most Ancient Shrine in Japan; In the Cave of the Children's Ghost; At Mionoseki; Notes on Kitazuki; At Hinomisaki; Shinjuu; Yaegaki-Jinja; Kitsune. . Vol. 2: In a Japanese Garden; The Household Shrine; Of Women's Hair; From the Diary of an English Teacher; Two Strange Festivals; By the Japanese Sea; Of a Dancing-Girl; From Hoki to Oki; Of Souls; Of Ghosts and Goblins; The Japanese Smile; Sayonara! . *** An excellent anthology of his earliest and perhaps his best writing on Japan and the Japanese. Superb guide to Japan by one of the best observers in the late 19th century, loaded with keen insights and brilliant commentaries. A classic of literature on Japan. . *** COLOR VARIANTS OF CLOTH IN THE FIRST EDITION: The First Edition of this title was issued in both the green and black cloth with sliver decorations. The green cloth is the more obscure variant than the black, Perkins discusses these points in much detail on p.26-7, the green was the first issue of the FIRST EDITION, saying: "...the black was first used with the second printing in November 1894, copies of which also bear the date 1894 on the title page." . To us that means the black with 1894 on the title page will also be considered a FIRST EDITION. . Both colored cloth were issued in the same silver colored front & spine decorations and titles, both with top edge gilt, fore edges were to be opened by the book owner, therefore leaving that edge a bit 'rough,' lower edge cut but not uniformly. . The color of the cloth on reprinted editions is not stated in Perkins, though over the last 55 years of our tenure we have not seen a green cloth that has any date on title page except 1894 and seems no reprints were issued in green cloth. Black is the common color of those later printings & editions. . *** Color photos are posted to our website . *** SPECIFIC COPY NOTES: . Copy 3 has some wear to volume 1 top of spine, splitting, a small piece missing. Bottom edges of both volumes rubbed. Top edge gilt other edges trimmed. Contents brilliantly clean, book firm and solid. . Copy 6 is a 2 volume set, vol. 1 is "Collection of British Authors Tauchnitz Edition First Series, Vol. 3994 & volume 2 is Second Series Vol. 4164." First Series has a faded spine, Second series is a darker red a maroon color, but uniform in size, cover designs. Each was published in a different year, together they make a complete set. Issued separately, serially. . *** BIBLIOGRAPHY: . * BAL 9726, 9728 * P.D. & Ione Perkins: LAFCADIO HEARN A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF HIS WRITINGS: p.25-27. * .