Yoshikawa Hayao 吉川速男, author

Arubamu No Matomekata アルバムの纒め方 [How to Assemble Albums]

Item #91058

Arubamu No Matomekata アルバムの纒め方 [How to Assemble Albums]

Yoshikawa Hayao 吉川速男, author

Genkōsha (GKS) 玄光社, publisher

Showa 13 [1938] 昭和13年

Hardcover volume 18.5 x 15.5cm is bound and opens western style and is covered in slubbed brown fabric. The binding has the title, author and publisher initials in silver on the binding and a vertically interlocking ‘S’ design in silver on the front cover. 249pp. with single and multiple black and white photographic images per page as well as photo reproductions of album pages and Japanese text throughout. Housed in a case 19.3 x 16.3cm.

The author and photographer Yoshikawa Hayao 吉川速男 (1890-1959), an established expert in the field, has written multiple books on the topic of photography that were published between 1921 and 1958. Here he illustrates chapter points with reproductions of his photos, both personal and public, showing people, places and objects of everyday life in Japan in the 1920s. Yoshikawa wrote the foreword, which is dated Showa 13.

The book is divided into 3 parts. Part 1 (Naze arubamu o tsukuru ka 何故アルバムを作るか) focuses on why to create an album and fundamentals such as long-term storage methods for film and albums. Part 2 (Arubamu no tsukurikata アルバムの作り方) centers on the methodology and philosophy behind photo albums, including dealing with frustrations that must have arisen when working with early photos, such as how to control one’s temper (Kibun no usenu uchi ni 氣分の失せぬうちに). This part also includes the many types of albums, such as news, sports, trains, hiking, travel and children. On a side note, the section on albums with multiple people has a swastika and members of the Nazi party. In Part 3 (Watashi no arubamu kara 私のアルバムから) the author shares his own photo albums, including locations such as Hachijōjima 八丈島, a volcanic island located in the Philippine Sea, Nara and Hakone. He also includes reproduced photos of his Tokyo earthquake album, in which album pages with photos of the disaster are visible.

There is a publisher's note on the verso of p. 120, facing p. 116, explaining why 116-119pp are missing. The canceled leaves appear to be the two leaves in between pages 120 and 121 that have been torn out, even though the page numbers are sequential.

The note and our translation into English follows: 御断り - 117, 118, 119 頁の寫真版は都合に依り削除致しました 故御了承願ひます。但し内容は 「感電」 と 「交通事故」のスケッチ寫真で多少 一般に不安の感を催さしむる虞ありと考へられましたので製本後俄に削除致した次第であります。[Disclaimer - The photo version on pages 117, 118, and 119 has been deleted due to circumstances. The contents are sketch photographs of "Electric Shock" and "Traffic Accident" and were thought to be somewhat unsettling to the general public, so they were deleted immediately after binding.]

A colophon page at the end is dated Showa 13 [1938] and has a laid-down navy blue and white publisher’s stamp with a blue hanko. [9]pp of publisher ads follow. A sheet 13.6 x 16.6 advertising another of the author’s books, My Photo Salon, with a large photo of the book and text on both sides, is laid in. A sheet 15.1 x 14.3cm with text errata is laid in.

Case is toned. Internal binding is starting at top; otherwise in very good condition.

Price: $150.00