Photo Album of Japan owned by early Yokohama resident C.J. Melhuish Unique album with historically important photos (1864-1872)
[Japan] In very good condition and with an excellent provenance, this is the nicest such Japanese photo album of the very early Meiji era that we have had the pleasure of owning. A superb, personal photo album owned and compiled by Charles John Melhuish (1844-1932), who worked for Gilman & Company in Foochow, China from around 1864 to 1869 (there are six photos taken in China in the album) and then was transferred to the Yokohama, Japan office from 1869 to around 1875 when he returned to England. Most of the photos are captioned in Melhuish's hand and he has inscribed the album at the beginning, 'C.J. Melhuish Yokohama 1870'. The album begins with a wonderful group portrait of twelve Western men taken in Yokohama in November 1869 with Melhuish sitting in the front row at centre with at least one colleague (G. Tonso to the right of Melhuish) and other acquaintances who are all identified. The others in the back row are from left to right, Robert Schwabe (1841-1908), C.L. Austin, John A. Fraser, Charles E. Leggatt, William Lane, Charles J. Bland, and Thomas Klenworthy Shaw. Sitting in the front row is P. Seteri, Charles Arnold, Melhuish, Tonso, and H. Ohl. All were involved in the silk and/or tea trade in Japan and the album seems to indicate a strong sporting and leisure connection between those appearing in the portraits. Next is a photo of a large group at the Foochow Spring Meeting in 1869 with A Fong [Ah Fong] indicated as the photographer in reverse in the negative. A couple of other Foochow photos dated 1864 and 1865 follow. Then a wonderful portrait taken in Yokohama dated November 1869 of A.B. Mitford, the Duke of Edinburgh, Sir Harry Parkes, and Admiral Keppel, who were together because of the Duke's visit to Japan. There are also a few photos of the teams who participated in a bowling match with the Duke and some of the officers of his vessel, HMS Galatea. The names of the members of the Yokohama team and the Duke's team are not indicated but are known thanks to Yokohama newspaper reports of the event. Following are two of Felix Beato's most famous photographs: the first of a young Japanese man named Sokichi who has been crucified ('condemned to die by spears on the cross') for robbery and murder, and the second shows the execution ground at Tobe in Yokohama dated Oct 1869 and the heads of six executed men whose heads are on display with Sokichi dead on the cross in the background. A decription of Sokichi and his crimes is printed on the facing page and is also by Beato. Some nice views of Nagasaki follow, then a photo of a group of Westerners and Chinese men captioned, 'The Teatotaller's Stables, Foochow 1867'. More photos of Nagasaki and then a wonderful, very large photo (31.3 x 23.2cm) of Yokohama taken in 1869, almost certainly by Beato. A group of medium format photos (approx. 18 x 14cm) follow including a temple at Katase, scenes in Kamakura, Kobe, Ogi [Oji], Kanazawa [near Yokohama], Yeddo [Edo = Tokyo], carpenters, and ladies weaving silk. Then a very interesting pair of photos, one showing a group of Japanese and Chinese men standing on steps with various small pot plants and bonsai outside a building that is presumably that of Gilman & Co. as the photo below it is captioned, 'No. 74 Yokohama 1869', and shows a view of the building itself with Western and Japanese staff standing outside. Another view of Yedo [Edo= Tokyo] and Yokohama and then an important photo captioned, 'Spot where Baldwin and Bird were murdered, November 1864'. This was of course the Kamakura Incident when Major Robert Baldwin and Lieutenant George Bird were purportedly killed by Shimizu Seiji and Mamiya Hajime, two disgruntled ronin who were both executed for the crime. A few photos of Yokohama and Kamakura follow. Then we come to one of the most important photos in the album. A magnificent, very large photo (29.8 x 24.7cm) captioned, 'No. 48 Yokohama 1871', it shows a group of four Westerners, three Japanese employees, a Japanese boy, and one Chinese employee outside a building. In 1871, No. 48 was the office of J.C. Fraser & Co. and the man sitting in the centre is James Pender Mollison (1844-1931), who came to Japan in 1867 and worked for J.C. Fraser & Co. He went on to live in Japan for 64 years until his death in Kamakura. He played a huge role in setting up the first sports club in Japan, ended up establishing his own company and was one of the most well-known, long-term foreign residents of Japan. As Mollison lived to be 87 years old, there are some photos of him as an older man, but this is by far the best photo of him that we have ever seen of him in his younger years. To the right of him is George Hamilton (1845-1929), another keen sportsman who founded the Yokohama Rowing Club and also worked for the same company. On the left of Mollison is Evan James Fraser (1847-1911), who was the younger brother of company founder James Campbell Fraser (1840-1913) and joined the company around 1870 (and this photo would seem to confirm that Mollison was in charge of the company as J.C. Fraser had returned to England in late 1867). Presumably the man on the right is E.D. Murray, who was the only other listed employee of the company according to the 1870 Directory. Next is an image of six men in military attire which is captioned, 'Siri [?] Taiping Shanghai 1870' and we can identify the man second from left as Alexander William Glennie, who also worked with Melhuish at Gilman &Co. Presumably he was sent to Taiping to help quell unrest there that was going on but we have been unable to discover his military rank. Glennie is also known as the cox of the 1871 Yokohama Four rowing team that participated in the first race between Yokohama in Kobe. He returned to Yokohama and apparently died there in 1886. The other five men in this photo are presently unidentified. Next is a nice photo of the Berger [?] family dated May 1871 and presumably taken in Yokohama. There was an E. Berger, watchmaker and jeweller, who lived in Japan from around 1867 to 1905 so this may be a photo of him, his wife, three children, two Japanese nannies and a dog. Then we have a previously unknown photo of the well-known William Alt (1840-1908) and his wife, Elisabeth (née Earl), in a horse carriage. Alt was one of the first Western residents of Nagasaki, having moved there at the beginning of 1860 and became very successful. He later moved to Osaka and then Yokohama where this photo was probably taken. Next is an impressive photo captioned, 'The Grand Stand Yokohama Nov 1870 "Southern Cross" winning the Challenge Cup"', showing a large group of people at the horse race track that was in Negishi. The photo gives a nice sense of the exciting action of the day as most people are understandably moving so faces are difficult to make out. Then we have another large format photo of a group of Westerners and Japanese men on a houseboat captioned, 'Bland's houseboat'. This was Charles S. Bland, who was in Yokohama as early as 1863, and the men appear to be on a hunting trip as long rifles can be seen. Next is another wonderful, previously unseen photograph (although it was known to exist) showing 'The Yokohama Four' in Oct 1871 as captioned. The man sitting on the floor is cox A.W. Glennie, the man with the striped socks is the stroke, George Hamilton, and at far right is Evan J. Fraser. At far left we have British diplomat and judge, Nicholas J. Hannen (1842-1900) and standing at rear is H.O.P. Wright. Then we have a photo of a painting showing the Duke of Edinburgh's ship, "Galatea" in Yokohama in August 1869 followed by a photo of the Yokohama Bund dated 25th Aug. 1871 showing damage from a typhoon. The last photos consist of a group portrait captioned, 'The Officers of the Royal Marines Yokohama Oct 1871' including one Western lady sitting at far left and a Japanese servant at far right, a photo of, 'The Officers of the 1/10th Regiment Yokohama July 1871' and a photo of a caricature of Nicholas Kingdon (1829-1903) racing on a horse captioned, 'Kingdon on Montezuma', another photo of a caricature captioned, 'Marks on Paddy Whack'. This is probably Francis W. Marks but there were a few other people named Marks in Yokohama at the time so we can't be sure. In the illustration, he is wearing striking jockey silks with images of fox heads. The final photo in the album is also a photo of a caricature captioned, 'Oldham R.E. [Royal Engineers] and Holmes X Regt' [Tenth Regiment].
This is a superb album in very good condition. Multiple Japan photos appear to have been taken by Felix Beato. Others by unidentified photographer. At least one of the Chinese photos was taken by Ah Fong. The album appears to be complete.
57 photos on 44 leaves (26 large format Japan photo, 5 large format China photos, 26 medium format Japan photos) + 1 caption page facing crucifixion photo.
Album measures 33.5 x 27.5cm.
Provenance: Acquired from a descendant of the album compiler and first owner, C.J. Melhuish.
In very good condition. Some wear and corners bumped. Internally very good with a few stray marks mostly on rear of mounts and some minor darkening at edges. Final two leaves a little spotted at edge of mounts (not affecting photos). Otherwise very good. p36091702
