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~~ The Phoenix ~~
Volume III, No. 35, May, 1873
Edited by Rev. James Summers
Summers, Rev. James (editor):
The Phoenix, A Monthly Magazine for India, Burma, Siam, China, Japan and Eastern Asia, Volume III, No. 35, May, 1873, London, 8vo (7 1/2 x 10 in - 19 x 25.5 cm), thin paper wraps, string tied, pages 169-180.
Articles published
- The Life of Mangu by H.H. Howorth
- Outline of Japanese History (continued) by Arinori Mori
- Notes on Loochoo by E.W. Satow
- Japanese Sonnets by L. O'Neill
- On the Commerce of Nepal by B.H. Hodgson
- Notice of the Vostochnui Sbornik by E. Delmar Morgan.
Table of Contents (from front wrap)
Notes on Loochoo by E.W. Satow. This is a very early scholarly discussion of the Loochoo (Ryukyu Islands/Okinawa) appearing in a Western journal following the opening of Japan. Satow examines the relationship of the Loochoo Kingdom to Japan and China and the country's history, geography, climate, agriculture, dress, religious practices, customs, language, military skills (including martial arts), culture and life on Okinawa. The article is an overview rather than in depth study. Satow reports that the first trade between Japan and Loochoo took place is 1441 and from that time forward the relationship between Loochoo and the province of Satsuma grew until the early 1600 when the Japan contacts were abandoned in favor of China. This resulted in the Prince of Satsuma mounting a expedition in March of 1609 to bring the Kingdom back under Japanese control.
Satow made the following comment regarding martial arts:
As regards more manly accomplishments, they are expert archers on horseback and good marksmen with the matchlock. Their skill in boxing such that a well-trained fighter can smash a large earthen water-jar, or kill a man with a single blow of the fist (at page 176)
Back Wrap/Subscription Information
General Information
The Phoenix was published monthly from July 1870 through June 1873 (issues Nos. 1-36). It is generally found bound into three volumes. Individual issues with the front and back paper wraps are seldom seen. During the three years of publication the title varied slightly as follows:
Volume I (1870-1) Issues #1-12), The Phoenix, A Monthly Magazine for China, Japan and Eastern Asia
Volumes II (1871-2) & III (1872-3) (#13-36), The Phoenix, A Monthly Magazine for India, Burma, Siam, China, Japan and Eastern Asia
The final issue of the Phoenix was issue No. 36 in June of 1873. In that issue Summers announced that he had accepted a professorship at the Imperial Collage at Tokyo. He solicited input on a proposal to continue publishing the Phoenix (No. 37) on January of 1874 in Yokohama or Tokyo. He noted:
It is my intention to add several new features, to illustrate it with Japanese engravings and to extend it's scope so as to include articles on any subject relating to the progress and well-being of the Asiatic countries.... (insert found before the first page of issue #36)
Summers' proposal was never acted upon and the 36 monthly issue of the publication marked its end. To see this announcement, click here.
General Information Regarding Characteristics of Individual issues Nos. 28-36:
- Pages (text) roughly cut and typically extend slightly beyond the paper wraps.
- Paper wraps are yellow or green and printed on the same weight paper as the text pages and wrap around the spine.
- String tied with thin string loosely affixed through three points.
- Front wrap serves as the title page and table of contents.
- Commercial advertising inside the front and back wraps. For an example click here.
- Text printed in double column format.
- No illustrations - plates or text illustrations. Occasional tables.
- Back wrap contains subscription information. For an example click here.
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