A Handbook for Travellers in Japan

London: John Murray, 1894. Cloth. Very Good. 7" by 5". Various. A bright, early edition of Basil Hall Chamberlain's popular Japanese travel guide. The 'Handbook for Travellers in Japan' was first issued in 1891 and ran through several editions in quick succession. Chamberlain was a professor of Japanese at Tokyo Imperial University and was a pioneering scholar of the Ainu and Ryukyuan languages. This work is one of several related to Japan he wrote. Illustrated, with 26 maps and plans including a folding frontispiece and large folding map to the pocket at the rear.Collated, complete.This work was published as a part of 'Murray's Handbooks for Travellers', a series of travel guide books published in London by John Murray beginning in 1836. According to scholar James Buzard, the Murray style 'exemplified the exhaustive rational planning that was as much an ideal of the emerging tourist industry as it was of British commercial and industrial organization generally'. These works are thus a fascinating insight into both the mentality of those who would have purchased them, and the locations in question. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Externally, generally smart. Rubbing to the head and tail with bumping to the extremities. Several light marks to the boards. Front hinge is strained but firm. Chips to the edge of plate at page 122, 161. Pages are generally bright. Occasional light spots to pages. Very Good