Click for a Larger Picture

Only Lettering on Cover/Spine

 
Condition. I rate the book as Very Good(-). The binding is Good and the contents are Very Good.

• Binding: Old 3/4 leather and marbled boards with much wear to all edges, large chips and head and foot of spine, marbled paper missing at several places, front joint repaired. The outer hinges are cracked.
• Contents. The inside front cover and inside back cover and adjacent pages are heavily toned. FEP with inscription "With Compliments of the Author, Yokohama Augt, 1882." Old illustrated book plate inside front 9 (Torii and "Drew B. Peters, Esqre.") cover. Evidence of the removal of a stick from the inside back cover. The text and photographs are very clean and clean - free of staining and foxing. The 11 hand colored albumen photographs have rich/vibrant color and sharp detail. FEP with inscription "With Compliments of the Author, Yokohama Augt, 1882." Old illustrated book plate inside front 9 (Torii and "Drew B. Peters, Esqre.") cover. Sturdy copy of a very important illustrated book.

Inscription

Bookplate

 
Supplementary Pics

Boards

Inside Front Cover

Inside Back Cover

Title Page

First Page of Text

Close-up of Text Page

Examples of the Plates

Examples of the Plates

 
Van Buren, Thomas B.:
Labor in Japan - together with - Pottery and Porcelain Industries of Japan, Yokohama, Japan, Printed at the Japan Gazette Office, 1882, 8vo (6 1/4 x 9 in - 15.7 x 23.3 cm), 59 pp + 10 pp. Contains eleven (11) hand colored albumen photographs (see below. Prepared by Thomas B. Van Buren, the U.S. Consul-General in Japan. This book contains two reports which were originally printed in the Reports of the Consuls of the United States, No. 2, November, 1880, published by the Department of State. The reports as published by the US Government have been slightly modified (corrected) and supplemented with eleven (11) hand colored albumen photographs interspersed in the text.

Images of the Meiji Emperor and Empress [Also shown below].
I believe that the images of the Emperor and Empress in this book were taken by Kuichi Uchida and represent very early and scarce photographic images. Kuichi Uchida (1844-1875) was the first photographer allowed to photograph the Meiji Emperor and Empress. These were considered "Official" photographs. He took these photographs in the 1871~1873 period. While I have not been able to confirm the assertion, it has been stated that these images saw very restricted distribution because of a general prohibition against viewing the Emperor's face. Apparently the Emperor was not photographed again until 1889. The later photographs became very popular and received widespread publication and distribution. Some believe that unauthorized copies of the "Official" photographs were distributed through the years, possibly by Baron Raimund von Stillfried und Ratenitz. Whether the early images of the Emperor and Empress by Uchida were restricted in publication as a mater of deliberate policy is an open question. The fact remains that original photographic reproductions of these first images (pre-1889), such as found in this book, are scarce.

 
Headings - Major Topics (Focus is generally the 1868~1880 period).

Part 1 - Labor in Japan.

• Latitude and longitude of Japan
• Topography
• Soil
• Water
• Climate
• Temperature
• Population
• Government
• Land Tenure
• Religion
• Education
• Medical science and education
• Morals
• Means of Transportation
• Mails
• Tenements
• Fuel
• Farmers
• Food
• Clothing
• Holidays
• Taxes
• Rice Culture
• Rice
• Wheat
• Barley
• Millet, Beans, Peas &c
• Tobacco
• Tea
• Silk
• Cotton
• Artisans
• Porcelain and Earthenware
• Enamels
• Ship builders
• Professional Labor
• Physicians
• Lawyers
• Writers, translators and interpreters
• Cooly or Common Labor
• Carriers
• Car-men
• Packers
• Fishermen
• Miners
• Sports and Pastimes
• Labor Organizations
• Finances
• Currency
• The Blind
• Scenery
• Ethnology
• Oriental Civilization
• Table A - Showing Prices of Food in Japan, According to Quality
• Table B - Japanese Taxation

[Items in Bold are presented as major topics in the text, other are sub-topics].

 
Illustrations. Each of the eleven (11) photographic illustrations is a hand colored albumen print. The general size is 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. The photographs are mounted on the same paper stock as the text. Each is enclosed with a box and has a descriptive title. The photographs are very detailed/sharp with crisp vivid hand coloring. This appears to be one of the first published illustrated books using these albumen prints. While tourist albums were being sold at this time with similar types of prints, they were not generally published/distributed as this book.

Labor in Japan

1.   His Imperial Majesty, Matsu Hito, Emperor of Japan.
     (frontispiece)
2.   Her Imperial Majesty, Haruko, Empress of Japan.
     (frontispiece)
3.   Ainos. (after page 6)
4.   A Samurai in Armor. (after page 14)
5.   Betto. (after page 20)
6.   Geisha, Playing on the Tsudzumi. (after page 28)
7.   Vegetable Pedlar. (after page 34)
8.   Museme, in Winter Costume. (after page 40)
9.   Coolie, in Winter Dress. (after page 48)
   Pottery and Porcelain Industries of Japan
   
10.   Satsuma Vase, (In Possession of the Writer.) (after page 4)
11.   Kaga or Kutani Plate, (In Possession of the Writer.)
      (after page 8)

 
Click on the Picture for Higher Resolution Picture.

 
Regarding the Mail, Van Buren Notes.

  Mails.-- The mail transportation that has been established within the last ten years, both coastwise and inland, is cheap and excellent. The number of miles of mail routes aggregates 36,052. The number of Post Offices is 3,927. The number of letters carried for the year ending June 30th, 1880, was 55,775,206, and that of newspapers 11,203,731. These figures throw great light upon the volume of business of the country and the amount of reading writing done by the people. (Report on Labor in Japan, page 19).

Concordance.
Labor in Japan - together with - Pottery and Porcelain Industries of Japan, Yokohama, Japan Printed at the Japan Gazette Office, 1882,Title Page, Frontispiece hand colored albumen photographs (Emperor of Japan & Empress of Japan), Index to Report on Labor in Japan (2 pages), Index to Report on the Pottery and Porcelain Industries of Japan (2 pages), Part 1 - "Labor in Japan, Report by Consul-General Van Buren of the Topography, Soil, Climate, Laws, Religion, Government, Eductation, The Prices of Labor, Living, &etc., of Japan." (numbered pages 1-59 with seven (7) hand colored albumen photographs inserted but not numbered), Part 2 - "Pottery and Porcelain Industries of Japan, Report of Counsul-General Van Buren, of Kanagawa." (numbered pages 1-10 with two (2) hand colored albumen photographs inserted but not numbered).