BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
In regard to bibliography, the writer of the present volume of this series finds himself in a very different position from his predecessors. He has no embarras de richesses to contend with. The only survey of the whole field of Japanese literature which has hitherto appeared in any European language is an article by Sir E. Satow, in vol. ix. pp. 551–565 of Appleton's American Cyclopædia (New York, 1874), excellent as far as it goes, but owing to the brevity inseparable from such a form of publication, more fitted to excite than to satisfy the reader's curiosity. It will be found useful by any one who wishes to extend his knowledge of the subject, as it mentions a large number of Japanese books which have been entirely passed over in the preceding pages.
Mr. B. H. Chamberlain's Classical Poetry of the Japanese (1880) contains translations into English verse of a number of poems from the Manyōshiu and Kokinshiu, with selections from the Nō and Kiōgen, and an appendix of very short biographical notices of the more ancient Japanese poets. There is a similar work in French by .
Some interesting glimpses of the popular literature and folk-lore of the Yedo period are given in Mr. A. B. Mitford's Tales of Old Japan (1871).
Mr. William Anderson's Catalogue of Japanese and Chinese Pictures in the British Museum (1886) deals with the literature of Japan viewed as a source of supply of subjects for the artist.
The Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan contain a number of translations and notices of Japanese books, by Sir E. Satow, Mr. B. H. Chamberlain, and others; and Dr. K. Florenz's contributions to the Journal of the German Asiatic Society of Japan should also be mentioned.
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