Japanese Fairy Tale Series No. 25. Chin Chin Kobakama

1903. Item #90913

Japanese Fairy Tale Series No. 25. Chin Chin Kobakama. Lafcadio Hearn, translator.T. Hasegawa (Hasegawa Takejirō 長谷川武次郎), publisher. Meiji 36 [1903]. 19.2 x 13.9cm crepe paper book, stab-bound Japanese style, fukuro-toji. [10] cho, including introductory notes by the translator. Colophon in Japanese on the inside rear wrapper with the date Meiji 36 [1903] gives the Hasegawa publisher address as 17 Kami Negishi. [10] pages with woodcuts on the front and rear inside wrappers. Colorful and detailed woodblock prints and English text throughout. Chin-Chin Kobakama is a cautionary tale of a lazy young woman who is taunted every night for her sloth by angry fairies who live within her tatami mats. It is a classic Japanese folklore tale, which has similar iterations with the same moral and ending, such as the additional [1] cho tale at the end, about a girl who hides her plum-stones in the tatami mats. This tale is illustrated with charming woodcuts of ladies in colorful kimono that dance across the final page over onto the rear inside wrapper.

Wear and toning to wrappers with dirt staining on front cover, inside front cover and spots on a few pages. Front cho is nearly split and rear cho is split and detaching with rips at binding. Stain along side and top edges of final page. The letter ‘E’ is handwritten on the rear inside wrapper. A wonderful early printing.

Price: $225.00