The Tale of Genji series: The Tale of Genji; The Sacred Tree; A Wreath of Cloud; Blue Trousers; The Lady of the Boat; The Bridge of Dreams
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1925-1933.
First American editions, first printings of all six volumes. The first complete translation of the 11th century Japanese epic. Bound in publisher's paper-covered boards with vari-colored cloth backstrips and top edge stains, title labels. Very Good+ overall with light edge wear to boards, a little wear/staining to spine labels, lacking dust jackets. Vol. 1 is the roughest of the bunch with some chipping at extremities, some stains and scratches to boards. Small pen mark to spine of Blue Trousers.Uncommon and attractive as a set. The most important work in Japanese literature, and the first novel written by a woman. Of Waley's translation The Oxford Guide to Literary Translation in English notes: "While many in the postwar period who read Waley's Genji admit to feeling more that they are visitors at the Victorian court than at the Heian palace, the impact of this first rendition has been enormous," adding that given the changes in Japanese since the 11th century "many educated Japanese of the 1920s and 1930s confessed they found it easier to understand the Waley translation than the Murasaki original."
Price: $1,500