Shogaku Dokuhon (Elementary School Reader), Volume 1, is one of the earliest textbooks of Japan's modern school system, compiled by Tanaka Yoshikado and proofread by Naka Michitaka at the Shihan Gakko (Tokyo Normal School) for the Ministry of Education in the first years after the 1872 Education Act. The series was adapted from American school readers of the period and introduced Japanese children to the five races of the world, the natural sciences, Western ships and horse carriages, play, manners and daily life, all explained in a simple kana-rich style with woodblock illustrations. This copy is the Kyoto Prefecture reissue: the title page reads Meiji 7 (1874), 8th month, revised edition, reprinted by Kyoto-fu, and the colophon carries the permission date of June 22, Meiji 8 (1875) and the name of the Kyoto bookseller Sugimoto Jinsuke at Sanjo-dori Teramachi. The highlight for collectors is the pair of numismatic leaves at the end of the volume, where the pupils are taught the money of old and new Japan: a koban gold oval with its fan-shaped stamps, nibu-kin, ichibu-gin and isshu-gin rectangular pieces, Tenpo Tsuho and Kan'ei Tsuho cash coins and Bunkyu Eiho, followed by the then brand-new Meiji coinage dated Meiji 3 (1870), the 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 yen gold coins with the dragon and the sunburst, the 1 yen, 50, 20, 10 and 5 sen silver coins (the 50 SEN and 5 SEN inscribed in English) and the copper 2 sen, 1 sen, half sen and 1 rin. The lesson text explains which pieces circulated under the Shogunate and which are the new gold and silver coins. A rare survival of the first generation of Meiji textbooks and a fine piece for collectors of Japanese coins, early education history and woodblock-printed books. Photos show the actual item offered.
[Design & Details]
Front cover with a printed title slip reading Shihan Gakko Henshu Shogaku Dokuhon, volume 1. Title page with the imprint Meiji 7, 8th month, revised, Kyoto-fu reprint. First text page headed Shogaku Dokuhon Dai-ichi with the names of the compiler Tanaka Yoshikado and proofreader Naka Michitaka, opening with Lesson 1 on the five races of mankind illustrated with five portrait medallions. Further lessons illustrated with kite flying, hoop rolling, boys at a boat, a horse rider, two Western sailing ships, a toy shop, an owl, a horse-drawn carriage, a cat and mouse, a mother and child and a boy with a hat. Leaves 24 and 25 carry the coin plates described above, and the final leaf is a glossary of difficult words with phonetic readings. The first text page bears a red collector's seal and the back cover has a handwritten owner's name in ink.
[Material & Construction]
Japanese woodblock print on thin washi paper, fukuro-toji (pouch-bound) leaves sewn with thread in the traditional four-hole style, with plain paper covers. Printed and published in Kyoto, Japan, in 1875.
[Size]
Approximately 15 x 22 cm (5.9 x 8.7 in), 25 leaves (50 pages). Weight not measured.
[Condition]
Good used condition for a woodblock-printed textbook of 1875. The text and illustrations are clean and clearly legible, the binding thread is intact and the pages turn well. The cover is toned and creased with small scuffs and a small ink spot on the front, there is a handwritten owner's name on the back cover, a red collector's seal on the first text page, light foxing on some pages and overall age toning, as shown in the photos. Please note that Lesson 1 reflects 19th-century views on race, which we present as a historical document.
[Included Items]
- Shogaku Dokuhon Volume 1, Kyoto-fu reprint, 1875 (1 volume)
Nothing else is included.
[Shipping]
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Ships from Japan with tracking.
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