KAWAKAMI (Sumio).
Egeresu iroha jinbutsu [English ABC of characters]
The first edition of Kawakami's enduring ABC
The first edition of Kawakami Sumio’s A–Z of interesting characters. Kawakami spent much of his career as a high school English teacher and produced a number of educational illustrated books introducing English words and phrases. The present title playfully present a famous figure or type of person for every letter of the alphabet (impressively, X for Xanthippe!).
Published in 1935, the present title is an early collaboration between Kawakami and the art book publishers Hangaso. Unlike his work with the publishers Gohachi, for which he hand-printed the books himself, with the Hangaso editions Kawakami provided the text and illustrations, which were then tastefully reproduced by skilled printers. It is unknown exactly how many copies were produced. Unfortunately the thick quality of the paper stock and the way it was been bound means that few copies survive in good condition, as the book is very brittle and susceptible to splitting and toning.
The success of this title is perhaps evident in the number of times it was reprinted. In 1953 a special edition was produced with a different publishers in an edition of 100 copies. Then in 1975 two more editions were printed, in a large and small format.
Rare. Only one copy in OCLC.
