Japan | PY Rare Books

Image for MEKSIN et al. Exhibition of Japanese Children Books and Art Work. First edition of the booklet, in original Russian. Moscow, 1928. #2

Japanese children books in the young USSR

MEKSIN, Iakov, Nina SAKULINA, and Aleksandr MOGILEVSKII (artist)

Vystavka detskoi knigi i detskogo tvorchestva Iaponii [An Exhibition of Japanese Children Books and Art Work]

VOKS i GAKhN, Moskva, 1928. £395

Uncommon booklet presenting a very early cultural exchange between Japan and the USSR, centred on children books. A lovely item, here in very good condition in spite of its fragility.

Image for Th. GAUTIER. Russia. Philadelphia, 1905. #2

A striking copy

GAUTIER, Théophile

Russia

The John C. Winston Co., Philadelphia, 1905. £850

Impressive American publication, here in fantastic condition, bringing to the English-speaking reader an account of Russia by one of the great French authors.

Image for GEORGI, J.G. Merkwürdigkeiten verschiedener unbekannten Völker des Russischen Reichs. 1777, First edition. #2

From shamanism to planting seeds in Kamchatka

GEORGI, Johann Gottlieb

Merkwürdigkeiten verschiedener unbekannten Völker des Russischen Reichs

Frankfurt und Leipzig, 1777. £1,750

Some of the first systematic ethnographic observations of peoples of Russia, here focusing on Siberian and Far Eastern peoples. An edition rarely found, with plates and a map. Lovely copy in fine condition.

Image for Chaudoir, Asian coins and notes, complete catalogue, rare Russian edition #1

Chinese money in a Russian collection

CHAUDOIR, Baron Stanislas de

Kitaiskie, manchzhurskie, mongolskie, iliiskie, koreiskie, iaponskie, aninanskie i neizvestnye monety, medali, assignatsii, menialnye bilety, zolotye i serebrianye slitki.

[Catalogue of copper money of Chinese, Japanese, Korean Vietnamese and uncertain origins, medals, paper-money, exchange notes, gold and silver bars]

[Skt. Peterburg, ?Bellizard, c. 1842]. £4,500

The attractive catalogue of Asian, esp. Chinese numismatics compiled by one of the greatest coin collectors of the early 19th century. A lovely example of the rarer first Russian issue, in a fine Russian binding - a rare book indeed, with more than 60 plates.

Image for [ASIA]. Notes on Travel in Japan, China and India.... First edition (?), Manila, ca. 1924. #2

Out of stock

For American soldiers-tourists based in the Philippines - only copy traced

Notes on Travel in Japan, China and India with Passport Regulations

Headquarters, Philippine Department, Manila, [ca. 1924].

A small guide packed with information and of utmost rarity: no other copy traced. Printed in the Philippines.

Image for SUZUKI, Y. Shin Roshia - New Russia. First edition, Tokyo, 1932-33. #2

Out of stock

The striking achievements of the young USSR seen from Japan

SUZUKI, Yukiyasu (editor)

Shin Roshia [New Russia]

Tokyo, Nisso Bunka Kyokai, Showa 7-8 [i.e. 1932- 1933].

Fine photographic illustrations of Soviet Russia for a Japanese audience. First edition, a complete set.

Image for ORZHIKH, B. Albom Bortsov za Svobodu. Nagasaki, 1907. First edition, with wrappers. #2

Out of stock

With the striking wrappers

ORZHIKH, Boris

Albom Bortsov za Svobodu [Album of Freedom Fighters, Pt.1 [all published]]

Tip. 'Voli', Nagasaki, 1907.

Impressive publication of a politically active Russian émigré to Japan. Richly illustrated, here with the original publisher's printed wrappers.

Image for Karafuto Shashin-cho [A Photographic Album of South Sakhalin], 1936. #2

Out of stock

The achievements of Japanese colonisation in Sakhalin

Karafuto Shashin-cho [A Photographic Album of South Sakhalin]

Karafuto-cho [Sakhalin Public Office], Tokyo [but Karafuto Toyohara?], Showa 11 [ie. 1936].

Great visual record of South Sakhalin in the 1920s-30s: wide-ranging, artistic - and scarce. A beautifully fresh example.

Image for MORRIS, Typed letter to Charles Hart, on Vladivostok during the Russian Civil War. #2

Out of stock

A US Ambassador visits Vladivostok during the Civil War

MORRIS, Roland

Signed Letter to Charles Hart, with Envelope

Flagship BROOKLYN, Vladivostok, October 4, 1918.

The US Ambassador to Japan recounts his views of Vladivostok, just a year after the Russian Revolution while the Civil War front is moving eastwards: a fine letter on embossed official paper of the Embassy, kept with its signed original envelope.

Image for RUF ANANIN, Kharbin v krivom zerkale, 1930s, complete set of postcards. #2

Out of stock

"International city": Russian caricatures in Japanese China

RUF [pseud. for Ruf Sozonovich ANANIN] (artist)

Kharbin v krivom zerkale [Harbin in a crooked mirror]

[Harbin, mid-1930-early 1940s].

Witty depictions of the Russian diaspora in Harbin under Japanese occupation. A complete set of these fine postcards, within the printed wrappers: very rare so.

Image for GONCHAROV, I. Fregat Pallada, first edition, 1858 #1

Out of stock

First bananas, curry and sake

GONCHAROV, Ivan

Fregat Pallada [The Frigate Pallada]

Glazunov, Skt Peterburg, 1858.

One of the best travel accounts by a Russian literary author: Goncharov's travel to Japan, Hong Kong and Africa. An excellent example of the first edition.

Image for SKITALETS, Famous Russian People, rare Japan imprint, first edition, 1927 #1

Out of stock

From Tolstoy to Lenin, Gorky and Chaliapin - in Japan

SKITALETS [pseud. of Stepan Gavrilovich PETROV]

O znamenitykh russkikh liudiakh [On Famous Russian People]

Nagoia, Robunkaku, 1927.

Very rare Russian book published in Japan, presenting short sketches of important Russian contemporaries, such as Tolstoy, Lenin, Gorky and Pleakhanov.

Image for BURTSEV, Tsar i vneshniaia politika, Russo-Japanese War, Berlin, 1910. #1

Out of stock

Another war which went wrong...

BURTSEV, Vladimir Lvovich

Tsar i vneshniaia politika. Vinovniki russko-iaponskoi voiny [The Tsar and Foreign Affairs. The Culprits of the Russo-Japanese War]

Eberhard Frowein Verlag, Berlin, 1910.

Great denunciation of the catastrophy for Russia of the war against Japan. A pre-revolutionary publication banned in tsarist Russia.

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