Part II

Part III

 
Condition.

Part II is in Good(-) condition. The string ties have been replaced. The upper right corner is chewed. This problem starts at the back (an area approximately 2 cm down and .5 cm out to the edge) and decreases as you approach the front. None of the folded pages are cut or broken at the fold. The interior is clean and the paper is supple. The color woodblock plates (6 double page) are in Very Good condition with no staining or faults.

Part III is in Good+ condition. The string ties have been replaced. There are traces of the covering at the head and foot of the spine. The covers are soiled and corners bumped. None of the folded pages are cut or broken at the fold. The interior is clean and the paper is supple. The color woodblock plates (6 double page) are in Very Good condition with no staining or faults. There is waterstaining on the back cover (ca 1/4 of the cover at the bottom) and this extends in 4-5 pages into the publisher's advertisements.

To see the covers before and after replacement of the string ties, click here.

 
Dening, Rev. Walter:
The Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Parts II and III of a five part set, Tokyo, The Hakubunsha, 1890 (Meiji 22), stiff wrap covers illustrated in color, 12mo (5 x 7 1/4 in - 12.7 x 18.3 cm), string tied Kangxi binding style, text in English and on folded pages, Japanese language colophon at the rear, 6 double page color woodblock prints per part, Part II with 78 text pages and Part III with 76 text pages, pages numbered consecutively, pages 78-154 of a 417 page set. The spine is not covered except for approximately 3/4 in (1.8 cm) at the top and bottom. Publisher's advertisements at the end of at least Parts II and III. On the back cover it states "The Hakubunsha, Publishers, Booksellers, Printers and Stationers, No. 1, Shichome, Ginza, Tokyo, Japan."

The double page color woodblock prints are printed on one side of a single sheet. They are then folded at the middle and tipped to tabs which are bound into the book. The print pages are not numbered or included in the page count. There are a total of 26 double page plates in the five part set.

Wenckstern discusses this set in these terms:

Dening, Rev. W. The Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. 417 pp. text with many plates. Post 8vo, Tokio, 1890. (80 cents).
Fine Edition on Japanese paper, in five volumes, Post 8vo, Tokio, 1890, ($2.50 c).
(Wenckstern, Volume 1, 1859-93, at page 96)

Based upon the Wenckstern entry it is clear that there was a trade edition, or ordinary type, single volume version of the book and multi-volume "Fine Edition." Wenckstern's discussion refers a single book with 417 pages (80c) as well as 5 volume "Fine Edition" ($2.50). In the trade edition, published in 1890, the five parts are bound (half green leather and green marbled boards) into one book. The trade edition contains no color illustrations but does contain 27 double page black and white illustrations.

The books which are discussed on this page, and pictured below, are part of the "Fine Edition" that Wenckstern notes.

 
Pages in Each of the Five Parts:

Part I, pages 1-78, Meiji 21 (1888) [Not present]
Part II, pages 79-154, Meiji 22 (1889) [Present]
Part III, Pages 155-244, Meiji 22 (1889)[Present]
Part IV, Pages 245-324, Meiji 23 (1889) [Not present]
Part V, Pages 325-417, Meiji 23 (1890) [Not present]

 
Title Page (Same in Part II & III)

 
Color Woodblocks, Part II

 
Color Woodblocks, Part III

 
Colophons

Part II

Part III