Baron Hisaya Iwasaki's Gift to Students of Things Oriental:
Some of the Rare Works: An Unexcelled Knowledge of Oriental Books By "Sonvraron't When Dr, Morrison sold his) Tokyo, notably that of the Imunique library, in 1917, Baron perial University, towards the re-Iwasaki for the sum of £35,000, hel placement of which some effort may or may not have seen that|was lately made in England, this it would form the nucleus of} unique and irreplaceable treas probably the finest Oriental] store fortunately escaped dam: library in the world. It is not|It is little to be wondered at that merely the student world of Japan some strange spell making for but all students of things Oriental security and safety is believed to who owe a deep debt of gratitude have been woven round the the Baron, through whose collection." munificence and public spirit the Dr. Morrison's unique position' famous Morrison Library, with first as Peking correspondent many notable additions, has been "The Times" and later as Adviser 'x0 splendidly housed and recently} to the Government of the Chinese placed at the disposal of all Republic, naturally engaged in research work con-entirely ' exceptional nected with A: of acquiring works on China to affairs, more. especially those jan extent, variety and value that] ing with the Far East. subsequently—made his collection Little publicity was given to the the envy and admiration of all opening of the Toyo Bunko Orientalists and sinologues who ("Oriental Library") at Tokyo at have had the privilege of access the end of November last, yet it to it. The pamphlets alone was an affair unique in Japan's numbered over 6,000, among which history. The building in which the] were many important document: library is which Dr. Morrison was 30 cautious and clever acquiring. The books deal with subjects of ovary reinforced conerete in two sections imaginable kind relating to China two and three storeys respective-and all countries ly, is fireproof, and is faced with ly all languages being represent warm brown brick. It is to be hoped not excluding even Turkish, Arabic that Morrison's famous collection and Hebrew. will now repose in peace, for in the 20 odd years that the famous A Glimpse at the Volumes Doctor gathered the volumes from No student of Asiatic affairs the ends of the earth the collection should visit Tokyo without visiting underwent great trials and this remarkable There tribulations.
Stirring Ups and Downs resent to whom were extended the rare" privilege _of A writer in the "Royal Goo-using the library during the life-graphical Journal", for December, time of Dr. Morrison, but si referring to the stirring adventures! the many other valuable addi through which the library has} have been made it is Li passed in its time, draws attention the "Oriental Library to the fact that in the Boxer gradually become the' Mecca for Rebellion of 1900 its owner's home.
Far Eastern researchers, was destroyed by fire, but the] Notable among the works!
itself was saved—almost ineluded.are over 40 editions of for it had been the "Travels of Marco Polo," bey removed to a place of safety in ing with the earl the nick of time. "Escaping from edition, published in Antwerp, fire," says this writer, "it was is supposed, in 1485. The wri next threatened with destruction from whom'I have quoted points water shortly after Baron out that the "actual first edition Iwasaki had purchased it in 1917, was, strangely enough, in German, and temporarily housed it in the being. printed at Nurnberg in 1477 Kura (storehouses) attached to gain in 1479: the Antweri his home in the Fukagawa district Latin edition is assigned to, 1485 0 of Tokyo. In the autumn of that] the evidence of the type." Some year Fukagawa was partly' other important items follow:
stated by a so-called tidal which followed in the wake Five hundred dictionaries of the languages and dialects of of a frightful typhoon, The newly purchased treasure was for the most -part under water, and the submerged eases containing it were still unpacked. With characterist energy,. Baron Iwasaki sought out the best expert assistance in the restoration of the books damaged, and by dint! of immense patience and skill almost everything was completely} Fennivencss aa ce traced "the Seopa shrews whose cémprerestored. During the earthquake Western knowledge of Eastern fires of 1923, which reduced - to geography, together with th the ashes many other libraries Fesults, of the work of scientific. surveys lately achieved Brnted "plendron=chiey ort zaits'of Earepaana. and' Aer. prominently associated with the East (0) A complete list of Turkish hooks on Teltm, presented to Dr. More Haan by' the Tate. ate, Bslsey in Gtines Russia and Turkey.
The Girly vocabulary of Ment el, published in 1688, in which that" writer gives ' a Latin equivalent of the characters. of the Nestorian alphabet. he MB, dictionary, completed.
by Fernandes Parrano. The INS, aletionary wed. by" Sir John Barrow, attached to" the Macartney Embassy in China Works in English Among the works in English may be mentioned Goldsmith's "Citizen of the World" in its rare first edition of 1762. There li a first edition (1719) of "Second Voyage Robinson Crusoe," in which that wanderer travels to Peking through the Gobi Desert and Siberia, Those who enow Morrison well and who used his library will probably be aware of how proud he was of his rare collection of all the controversial pamphlets written at the time of the famous dispute between the Dominicans and the Jesuits relating to ancestral worship in China during the early part. of the 18h century. The tis complete and is in French, and Latin, 'As one who has been throught the library, I have often wondered how such' a busy politico-journalist as Dr. Morrison was, should have found time to ferret in the far corners of the earth for some of the plums of his collection, an friend China ever had among British newspaper correspondents whom Peking has made famous, Dr. Morrison could not be called a great student. hac exceptional power of rapid a Journalis point of view similation, and from the
Possessed an almost uncanny, faculty, of sensing news in advance. During his long service at the capital he gave of himself freely for that great news) where his knowledge of Eh not strictly academician, no man has ever done more than Morrison in collecting rare books which ge Oriental books he had a knowledge probably unexcelled in his time, It is said that he never wasted a dollar on his books. Many of his rare specimens came from judicious exchange, and I once heard him say that he made it a rule to make a duplicate book pay for itself and the one ho retained, The "Oriental Library" at Tokyo, however, is now housing a far more numerous and costly collection than was embodied in the Doctor's Peking library. To Morrison's books have been added, T see, no fewer than 25,000 velum found in European style, and 20,000 in Japanese, so that the original library has been more than doubled in size. The new additions "include many photographs of books and docu ments unearthed by Sir Aurel Stein and Pelliot in Western China, together with photographic copies of some of the rare publications of the Jetuit Mission Press Japan."
"*An TH Wind"
Though Morrison reaped a good cal of criticism when he sold his library to Japanese, for there were many in China who believed that he might have in time made as good. a financial bargain in Great Britain, I question whether he acted unwisely. One naturally would ike to feel that such a unique collection was in London rather than in Tokyo, but I am of the opinion that it would have been hard find a person or. an insti by whose. efforts the library would have been brought fo the value of £150,000, which is the total cost of Baron Iwasaki's gift to the ion. This sum includes, ditions to the collection end the premises built to receive the treasures, There can be no doubt that the "Oriental Library" will quiet rendezvous for the Orientalist in the future,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.