Exercises in the Yokohama Dialect Humorous Japanese language study book
[Japan] Scarce early edition of this somewhat mysterious work. It is thought by some that the so-called author, the Bishop of Homoco [Honmoku] was Hoffman Atkinson, but others believe it to be Frances Cope. The cover states 'Twenty Second Thousandth', which seems very unlikely as there were fewer than 3,000 Westerners living in Japan in 1880. Also, the cover states, 'Revised and corrected at the special request of the author by the Bishop of Homoco', so it seems the author and the 'Bishop' were clearly two different people. The first edition of this work was supposedly published around 1870 (as mentioned in Wenckstern), but no copies are known to exist. A second edition is mentioned in The Japan Weekly Mail issue of Nov. 22, 1873, but also it seems no copies have been found. A reprint of this 1879 edition was done in 1915 and another in 1953.
Yokohama. No publisher. 1879.
pp.31,[1]. 18.6 x 12.7cm.
In very good condtion. Original printed orange wrappers. Small tear at upper hinge and a minor stain on the rear cover. Overall very good. b35031369
