Large Photo Album of Japan by Felice Beato with 41 photos
[Japan] Large, photo album of Japan with 18 large albumen print photos and 23 carte de visite photos all taken by Felice Beato (1832-1909), the first and most talented Western photographer of note who lived in Japan for an extended period (almost 20 years from 1863 in his case). The 18 large format photos are mostly captioned and in order they are: A rural view (uncaptioned); Kanasawa [Kanazawa, near Yokohama]; The Creek, Yokohama, Japan; Kanagawa, road to Yedo; Japanese garden, Yeddo [actually this photo shows Mr. Uematsu and family at the Taisho-en garden in Hara, Shizuoka, which still exists today]; The Tocaido [Tokaido]; Japan [rural scene at unnamed location]; View on the Tokaido [uncaptioned]; Mississippi Bay, Yokohama, Japan; Temple steps, Yedo; A village scene [uncaptioned]; Dieboots [Daibutsu], Japan; Yokohama; Temple, Kamakura; Japanese house & garden; Temple near camp, Yokohama; and Tocaido [Tokaido], Japan. The next leaf had three very nicely hand-drawn and coloured illustrations by a Japanese artist, the following leaf has nine CDVs inserted neatly at corners titled: Betto; wrestler; messenge; norimon; coolie; kango [kago or palanquin]; yaconin [yakunin or government official]; in armour; and winter dress. The next leaf has seven CDVs with four titled: mousmies [musume or young lady]; and the other three titled: servant; bettos favorites; and mother & son. The subsequent leaf also has seven CDVs titled: refreshments; mousmies; ditto (the photo below); at her toilet; yaconin, father, mother & daughter; and doctor. The final leaf has a large format photo titled: Ichibarra, Japan [actually a photo of Atsugi in Kanagawa prefecture]. On the reverse side of this leaf are three more hand-drawn and coloured illustrations by a Japanese artist. Although we are dating this album c1868, it may well be earlier. The paper used is thick mulberry paper that is different from most Beato albums and his later albums tended to have detailed descriptions on the facing pages whereas this album doesn't. There are small holes near the binding or edges of the pages indicating that this album was probably originally bound in a Japanese style with plain silk covered boards. The present binding and title was no doubt added later, probably due to the deterioration of the original covers.
[Yokohama] [Felice Beato] [c1868]
24 leaves with 18 large format photos (27cm-29cm x 21cm-24cm), 23 hand-coloured carte de visites, 6 hand-drawn and coloured illustrations. Album measures 36.2 x 46cm.
In very good condition. Photos are all very good to fine. Some leaves with small worm trails in margins. On the reverse of one of the leaves with seven CDVs, there are two captions referring to photos of Chinese people (Chinese boat girl and Chinese barbers) that are not present. It looks like there was one large format photo and one medium format photos that were removed at some point. Still a very nice Beato album and very presentable. p37112004
