Volume I, 1895 Original/First Printing

Volume II, 1895 Original/First Printing

Volume I, 8vo, brown cloth, blindstamped rules and decoration, gilt lettering on front cover and spine, preface (i-iii), chapters numbered from I-XXIV, 2 plates, 1 map, 10 text illustrations, errata (2 pp), no colophon, 346 pp. Volume I of the narrative traces Heco's life from his birth in 1837 in the village of Komiya, Japan, to his shipwreck in 1850, rescue and journey to the United States. This is followed by accounts of his education and travels within the United States, his return to Japan in 1859 and work as interpreter for the U.S. consulate and his second trip to the United States (1861-1862).

Volume II, 8vo, pale brown cloth, blindstamped rules, gilt lettering on front cover and spine, chapters numbered from I-XVIII, 7 numbered plates, 5 unnumbered plates, 7 text illustrations, appendix (i-v), tipped in errata sheet, colophon, 254 pp. Plates I-II and IV-VII (6 plates) are collotype printed in the original edition. The colophon in this volume serves as the colophon for the set. Volume II of the narrative contains Heco's reminiscences of his adventures, picking up the story shortly after his return to Japan (in 1862) following his second journey to the United States. His later experiences in Japan include an eyewitness account of key events in the Revolution of 1868. This volume covers from August 4, 1862 through October 28, 1891.

 
Title Page.

 
Plates (2).

• Frontispiece - My Birth Place
  
• Matsuri Procession (after page 250)
  

 
Text Illustrations (10).

• Japanese boat (on page 7)
  
• Rider on horseback (on page 11)
  
• Snow covered village scene (on page 14)
  
• Multi-arch bridge (on page 17)
  
• Funeral Procession (on page 24)
  
• Temple of Asakusa (on page 29)
  
• Japanese boat in rough seas (on page 39)
  
• Japanese boat and sails ship (on page 58)
  
• Original Plan of Yokohama (on page 204)
  
• Audience chamber (on page 224)
  

 
Map (1).

• Straits of Shimonoseki (after page 346)

Title Page.



Numbered Plates.

Plate I.*  Bird's-Eye View of the City of Yedo, As it appeared in 1863 
(before the first numbered page of text) 


Plate II.* Prince Nagato's Residence in Yedo, 1864 (before page 63) 

 
Plate III. Plan of Battle at Choshiu (actually a text illustration on page 66) 


Plate IV.* Battle Scene at Tsukuba-Zan,  Nov 7, 1864 (before page 69) 


Plate V.*  A Large Gold Coin, "Oban" (before page 149) 


Plate VI.*  The Emperor's Visit to Nagasaki, June, 1872 (before page 169) 


Plate VII.*  Destruction of Prince Nagato's Yashiki, 
by Order of Shogun's Government in 1864 (before page 173) 





Unnumbered Plates (5) (printed on one side of the paper only).


Unnumbered Plate.**  Handwritten letter of Sept 25, 1865 from US Secretary 
of State Seward to Heco (2 pages long, after page 78) 
 

Unnumbered Plate.**  Letter from Mr. Ito (after page 98) 


Appendix A.** (unnumbered plate).  Full page plate with handwritten Japanese text 

 
Appendix B.** (unnumbered plate).  Full page plate with handwritten Japanese text 


Appendix C.** (unnumbered plate).  Full page plate with handwritten Japanese text 





Text Illustrations (7).

Text Illustration.  Picture of Mr. Kido (on page 95)


Text Illustration.  Picture of Mr. Ito (on page 99, full page)


Text Illustration.  Sketch of "house-boat" (on page 119)


Text Illustration.  Plan of Hizen yashiki, Kioto (on page 124)


Text Illustration.  Picture of Governor Ito (on page 129)


Text Illustration.  Sketch of Kome-Ya, Yashushiro Higo (on page 136)


Text Illustration.  Sketch of tomb-stone (grave) (on page 157)



 

Volume II, Original Edition, Errata Sheet - tipped to blank free page at the rear behind the colophon


 
Colophon (at rear of Volume II)



Printed:  Meiji 28 (1895).4.30

Published: Meiji 28 (1895).5.10

Printed by the Japan Gazette Newspaper Company, Yokohama

Sold by Maruzen Ltd., Tokyo

Tanejiro Tanka Printer

Copyright Holder and Publisher, Yoshi Hamada, Tokyo

Price, 3 yen
 



Summary of Both Volumes

Volume I - Listing of Plates, Map & Text Illustration in Chronological Order.

Plates (2)* - Map (1)** and Text Illustrations (10)***

Frontisplate.*      My Birth Place 
Text Illustration.  Japanese boat (on page 7)
Text Illustration.  Rider on horseback (on page 11)
Text Illustration.  Snow covered village scene (on page 14)
Text Illustration.  Multi-arch bridge (on page 17)
Text Illustration.  Funeral Procession (on page 24)
Text Illustration.  Temple of Asakusa (on page 29)
Text Illustration.  Japanese boat in rough seas (on page 39)
Text Illustration.  Japanese boat and sails ship (on page 58)
Text Illustration.  Original Plan of Yokohama (on page 204)
Text Illustration.  Audience chamber (on page 224)
Plate.*             Matsuri Procession  (after page 250)
Map.**              Straits of Shimonoseki  (after page 346)


Volume II - Listing of Plates & Text Illustrations in Chronological Order.

Plates* (7 Numbered, 5 Unnumbered) and Text Illustrations (7)****

Plate I.*    Bird's-Eye View of the City of Yedo, As it appeared in 1863
                      before the first numbered page of text) 
Plate II.*   Prince Nagato's Residence in Yedo, 1864 (before page 63)
Plate III.   Plan of Battle at Choshiu (actually a text illustration on page 66)
Plate IV.*   Battle Scene at Tsukuba-Zan,  Nov 7, 1864 (before page 69)
Unnumbered Plate.** Handwritten letter of Sept 25, 1865 from US Secretary 
                      of State Seward to Heco (2 pages long, after page 78)
Text Illustration.  Picture of Mr. Kido (on page 95) 
Unnumbered Plate.** Letter from Mr. Ito (after page 98)
Text Illustration.  Picture of Mr. Ito (on page 99, full page)
Text Illustration.  Sketch of "house-boat" (on page 119)
Text Illustration.  Plan of Hizen yashiki, Kioto (on page 124)
Text Illustration.  Picture of Governor Ito (on page 129)
Text Illustration.  Sketch of Kome-Ya, Yashushiro Higo (on page 136)
Plate V.*    A Large Gold Coin, "Oban" (before page 149)
Text Illustration.  Sketch of tomb-stone (grave) (on page 157)
Plate VI.*   The Emperor's Visit to Nagasaki, June, 1872 (before page 169)
Plate VII.*  Destruction of Prince Nagato's Yashiki, 
                      by Order of Shogun's Government in 1864 (before page 173)
Appendix A.** (unnumbered plate).  Full page plate with handwritten Japanese text
Appendix B.** (unnumbered plate).  Full page plate with handwritten Japanese text
Appendix C.** (unnumbered plate).  Full page plate with handwritten Japanese text


*    Printed on one side of the page only.  In the first (original) edition these 
       plates are black and white lithographs. Plates are unpaginated.
       In Volume 2 some are given plate numbers. 
**   Printed on one side of page only.  Sometimes described and counted as plates.
       These are woodcut printed. 
***  Text Illustrations in Volume I (original printing) are predominately lithograph
       printed with some woodcuts.
**** Text Illustrations in Volume II (original printing) are predominately halftone
       printed with some woodcuts.

Often you see Volume II of the first edition described as having "12 leaves" or "12 plates." This probably is the result of counting the seven numbered plates and the five leaves of illustrations not numbered as plates but printed on one side of the page only (** above). In other words, every illustration page printed on one side only is counted as a plate. To reach this total one must count Plate III (which is actually a text illustration) as a plate.

Types of printing used for illustrations.

The plates and illustrations in the 1st edition are printed in lithograph, half-tone and woodcut.
The plates and illustrations in the facsimile edition are printed in half-tone and photolithograph.

Lithograph Plate, Volume I (1895 - 1st edition) and Photolithograph Plate (1950 facsimile edition)

Lithograph Plate, Volume II (1895 - 1st edition) and Halftone Plate (1950 facsimile edition)

 
The following are the major distinctions between the 1895 original printing and the ca 1950 facsimile edition.

Size.
Original: Volume I & II. 8vo (6 1/4 x 8 3/4 in - 16 x 22.2 cm)
Facsimile Edition: Volume I & II. 8vo (6 1/4 x 8 3/8 in - 15.8 x 21.5 cm)
The original printing is noticeably longer (.7 cm) along the vertical axis.

Cover Colors - both cloth with gilt lettering.
Original: Volume I. Brown (Blue also confirmed). Volume II. Pale Brown.
Facsimile Edition: Volume I. Brown. Volume II. Olive Green

Blindstamped Ruled Borders on Covers.
Original: Plain blindstamped ruled borders have one recessed area which is ca 1 cm wide (Vol I) and 1/2 cm wide (Vol II).
Original: Volume I (only) has blindstamped decoration on front and back boards. Click here for close-up pic.
Facsimile Edition: Elaborate blindstamped ruled borders have an outer recessed area, a raised area and a much smaller inner recessed area.

Gilt Bands on Head and Foot of Spine.
Original: Two equal thickness (1.5 mm) gilt bands at head and foot of spine.
Facsimile Edition: Outside gilt band at head and foot of spine is thicker (1.5 mm) than the inside band (.5 mm or smaller).

Colophon.
Original: The colophon (Japanese language) for the set is found at the rear of Volume II. Volume I has no colophon. The set is dated by the colophon found in Volume II.
Facsimile Edition: The original colophon is not reproduced. The reprint colophons are found at the rear of both Volumes I and II. In Volume I, the reprint colophon is printed on the last printed page just below the "Errata." In Volume II the reprint colophon is printed on the back of the last printed page which is also an "Errata" page.

Facsimile Edition, Two Volumes Bound into One.
A one volume consolidated version of the two volume facsimile set was issued. It has blue covers and is otherwise the same, in the aspects mentioned above, as the two volume facsimile edition. I am not aware of any such consolidated publication of the original set.

For information on the 1950 facsimile edition, click here