1924 Undated later Gresham issue
MYTHS OF CHINA & JAPAN
By Donald A. Mackenzie
KEY DETAILS
Condition: Very Good
Format: Hardcover, Octavo (Standard) (8vo 6 × 9 in 152 × 229 mm )
Note: Binding/size selection follows standard bibliographic conventions and is approximate; exact measurements may vary.
Published By: The Gresham Publishing Company, London, 1924
Language: English
Collation: xvi, 404 pp.; complete with 34 plates, including the colour frontispiece, “The God of Thunder”, and 33 monochrome plates after paintings, sculpture, artefacts and photographs.
Dust Jacket: None, as issued
SKU: BTETM0002643
Shipping Info: Approximate Package Dimensions H: 12.5, L: 30, W: 25 (Units: cm), W: 2Kg
Tracked Shipping, Insurance Coverage as per Customer Request
DESCRIPTION
Myths of China & Japan
c.1924–1928 later Gresham issue; first published 1923
An extensively illustrated study of Chinese and Japanese mythology, religion and folklore by Donald Alexander Mackenzie, first published by Gresham in 1923. This undated copy is a later issue in the publisher’s distinctive dark-cloth Myth and Legend series binding, dating approximately from 1924–1928, with a gilt Chinese dragon and flaming pearl to the upper board.
CONDITION, COLLATION & COPY NOTES
COLLATION
xvi, 404 pp.; complete with 34 plates, including the colour frontispiece, “The God of Thunder”, and 33 monochrome plates after paintings, sculpture, artefacts and photographs.
Original publisher’s dark green-blue cloth, now largely aged to dark brown-green, with gilt dragon and flaming pearl device to upper board and gilt titles and yin-yang device to spine. Gilt remains bright and attractive. Some rubbing and marking to cloth, bumping and wear to extremities, with fraying and minor cloth loss at the head of the spine. Binding sound. Scattered foxing and spotting, principally to preliminary leaves, contents, plate list and occasional margins; illustrated plates generally cleaner and colour frontispiece bright. Complete with all 34 plates. No ownership inscriptions or annotations observed.
Please see Photos as part of condition report.
SYNOPSIS
Mackenzie approaches the mythologies of China and Japan comparatively, examining their gods, legendary rulers, creation traditions, sacred animals, cosmology and religious symbolism. Particular attention is given to the dragon, serpent and bird traditions of China, together with sacred mountains, paradises, mother-goddess beliefs and the religious significance of trees, herbs, stones and jade.
The Chinese chapters include discussions of creation mythology, early legendary emperors, Taoism, dragon lore and the symbolism of jade. Mackenzie considers the dragon not merely as a fabulous creature but as a complex religious symbol associated with water, rain, fertility, rulership and cosmic order.
The later sections turn to Japan, exploring the formation of Japanese mythology, the interaction of Chinese and indigenous traditions, the gods and dragons of Japan, the sun goddess Amaterasu, dragon-slayers and the legendary Mikados.
Throughout the work Mackenzie employs the comparative and “diffusionist” approach characteristic of much early twentieth-century mythology and anthropology. He attempts to identify parallels between Chinese and Japanese traditions and those of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and the Mediterranean world, arguing that myths, symbols and religious ideas were transmitted between ancient cultures through migration, commerce and other forms of contact.
Many of these proposed relationships would now be regarded as speculative, but the work remains of considerable interest both as a collection of East Asian mythology and as an example of early twentieth-century comparative religious scholarship.
The volume is illustrated with 34 plates, all present in this copy, including the colour frontispiece “The God of Thunder” and 33 monochrome plates reproducing Chinese and Japanese paintings, sculpture, religious imagery, jade objects, ceramics and photographs.
The binding is itself an attractive feature of the volume. Gresham’s Myth and Legend in Literature and Art series appeared in several decorative binding styles. The present copy belongs to the later dark-cloth issue of approximately the mid-to-late 1920s, with a gilt Chinese dragon pursuing the flaming pearl to the upper board and a yin-yang device to the spine. The cloth used for this later series commonly develops the characteristic dark brown-green tone seen here.
A complete and attractive copy of one of the more visually appealing volumes in Gresham’s Myth and Legend series, combining Chinese and Japanese mythology, Taoism, dragon lore, religious symbolism and comparative mythology.
AUTHOR BIO
Donald Alexander Mackenzie (24 July 1873 – 2 March 1936) was a Scottish journalist and folklorist and a prolific writer on religion, mythology and anthropology in the early 20th century.
1924 Undated later Gresham issue
MYTHS OF CHINA & JAPAN
By Donald A. Mackenzie
KEY DETAILS
Condition: Very Good
Format: Hardcover, Octavo (Standard) (8vo 6 × 9 in 152 × 229 mm )
Note: Binding/size selection follows standard bibliographic conventions and is approximate; exact measurements may vary.
Published By: The Gresham Publishing Company, London, 1924
Language: English
Collation: xvi, 404 pp.; complete with 34 plates, including the colour frontispiece, “The God of Thunder”, and 33 monochrome plates after paintings, sculpture, artefacts and photographs.
Dust Jacket: None, as issued
SKU: BTETM0002643
Shipping Info: Approximate Package Dimensions H: 12.5, L: 30, W: 25 (Units: cm), W: 2Kg
Tracked Shipping, Insurance Coverage as per Customer Request
DESCRIPTION
Myths of China & Japan
c.1924–1928 later Gresham issue; first published 1923
An extensively illustrated study of Chinese and Japanese mythology, religion and folklore by Donald Alexander Mackenzie, first published by Gresham in 1923. This undated copy is a later issue in the publisher’s distinctive dark-cloth Myth and Legend series binding, dating approximately from 1924–1928, with a gilt Chinese dragon and flaming pearl to the upper board.
CONDITION, COLLATION & COPY NOTES
COLLATION
xvi, 404 pp.; complete with 34 plates, including the colour frontispiece, “The God of Thunder”, and 33 monochrome plates after paintings, sculpture, artefacts and photographs.
Original publisher’s dark green-blue cloth, now largely aged to dark brown-green, with gilt dragon and flaming pearl device to upper board and gilt titles and yin-yang device to spine. Gilt remains bright and attractive. Some rubbing and marking to cloth, bumping and wear to extremities, with fraying and minor cloth loss at the head of the spine. Binding sound. Scattered foxing and spotting, principally to preliminary leaves, contents, plate list and occasional margins; illustrated plates generally cleaner and colour frontispiece bright. Complete with all 34 plates. No ownership inscriptions or annotations observed.
Please see Photos as part of condition report.
SYNOPSIS
Mackenzie approaches the mythologies of China and Japan comparatively, examining their gods, legendary rulers, creation traditions, sacred animals, cosmology and religious symbolism. Particular attention is given to the dragon, serpent and bird traditions of China, together with sacred mountains, paradises, mother-goddess beliefs and the religious significance of trees, herbs, stones and jade.
The Chinese chapters include discussions of creation mythology, early legendary emperors, Taoism, dragon lore and the symbolism of jade. Mackenzie considers the dragon not merely as a fabulous creature but as a complex religious symbol associated with water, rain, fertility, rulership and cosmic order.
The later sections turn to Japan, exploring the formation of Japanese mythology, the interaction of Chinese and indigenous traditions, the gods and dragons of Japan, the sun goddess Amaterasu, dragon-slayers and the legendary Mikados.
Throughout the work Mackenzie employs the comparative and “diffusionist” approach characteristic of much early twentieth-century mythology and anthropology. He attempts to identify parallels between Chinese and Japanese traditions and those of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and the Mediterranean world, arguing that myths, symbols and religious ideas were transmitted between ancient cultures through migration, commerce and other forms of contact.
Many of these proposed relationships would now be regarded as speculative, but the work remains of considerable interest both as a collection of East Asian mythology and as an example of early twentieth-century comparative religious scholarship.
The volume is illustrated with 34 plates, all present in this copy, including the colour frontispiece “The God of Thunder” and 33 monochrome plates reproducing Chinese and Japanese paintings, sculpture, religious imagery, jade objects, ceramics and photographs.
The binding is itself an attractive feature of the volume. Gresham’s Myth and Legend in Literature and Art series appeared in several decorative binding styles. The present copy belongs to the later dark-cloth issue of approximately the mid-to-late 1920s, with a gilt Chinese dragon pursuing the flaming pearl to the upper board and a yin-yang device to the spine. The cloth used for this later series commonly develops the characteristic dark brown-green tone seen here.
A complete and attractive copy of one of the more visually appealing volumes in Gresham’s Myth and Legend series, combining Chinese and Japanese mythology, Taoism, dragon lore, religious symbolism and comparative mythology.
AUTHOR BIO
Donald Alexander Mackenzie (24 July 1873 – 2 March 1936) was a Scottish journalist and folklorist and a prolific writer on religion, mythology and anthropology in the early 20th century.
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