Author: 'By Himself' [Shigemi, Shiukichi. 1865 - 1928]
Title: A JAPANESE BOY
Description: New Haven, Conn: E. B. Sheldon & Co. 1889. 1st Edition. Original publisher's green pebbled cloth binding with gilt stamping to spine & front board. 128 pp. 12mo. 7-1/2" x 5-1/4". Modest wear to binding. Period pencil poi & annotation to front blank. Bookseller stamp to rear blank. A VG+ copy. From the preface: "My motives in writing this jejune little volume are.. 1st. There seems to be no story told in this country of the Japanese boy's life by a Japanese himself. 2d.. my desire to obtain the means to prosecute the studies I have taken up in America. Circumstances have obliged me to make my own way in this hard world." Shegemi was a student attending medical school at Yale University when this was published. His description of a common boy's daily life in a far off country contributed to cross-cultural understanding between the two countries at an early stage, coming after the end of the Japanese isolation policy. His book sold well enough that he did pay for his Yale M.D. education. While well represented in the institutional community, it is somewhat uncommon in the market [at least in collectible condition, as here].

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