First edition. No. 182 of a limited edition of 500 copies. 2 volumes. 172 large collotype plates with tissue guards incl. three folding panoramas. Large folio. Original embroidered silk portfolio. A close to fine set in the original wooden boxes (some wear & damage). Separate volume of text in English, Chinese and Japanese (original cream wrappers). Tokyo, Ogawa Kazumasa Shuppanbu, [Together with:] Decoration of the Palace Buildings of Peking. No 192 of a limited edition of 1000 copies. 80 large lithograph plates (20 hand-coloured) incl. 2 large folding maps, together with 2 vols. of text (original cream wrappers, text in English and Japanese). Large folio. Original embroidered silk portfolio. A close to fine copy in the original wooden box (some wear & damage to outer box). [viii], 57(English text)pp.; [viii], 42(Japanese text)pp. Tokyo, Ogawa Kazumasa Shuppanbu, 1906.
This work was produced as a result of the Commission sent by the Imperial University of Tokyo shortly after the Boxer Rebellion to investigate the layout and decoration of the Palace Buildings in the Forbidden City. It is the first photographic survey of the Forbidden City which had hitherto been inaccessible to the outside world. Ogawa Kazuma (1860-1929) the best publisher of collotype books in Japan, photographed and produced the superb, large-size plates. The famous architectural scholar Ito Chuta (1867-1954) oversaw this project and was given unprecedented access to the palaces. This set is the de-luxe issue with embroidered silk bindings in wooden boxes. It is uniformly bound and it is rare to find both publications together.
“These pictures, numbering above 170 in all, form such a comprehensive set that all the important views and edifices within the city are represented therein. In view of their rare value as materials for architectural study, especially on account of the secrecy with which all the Palace grounds are jealously kept from public sight, we have given our permission to Mr. Ogawa to publish the with accompanying explanatory notes in Japanese, Chinese, and English.” (Preface to ‘Photographs of Palace Buildings of Peking’).
“In 1901, when Peking was occupied and garrisoned by the Allied Forces during the Boxers’ Trouble, we despatched there a commission consisting of Assist. Professor Ito Chiuta, Kogaku-hakushi, of the College; Tsuchiya Jiun-ichi, Kogakushi, Member of the University Hall; Assist. Expert Okuyama Tsunegoro of the College; and Photographer Ogawa Kazumasa; with the instructions to prosecute architectural and decorative investigations of the buildings in the Forbidden City and other Palace Grounds; in which undertaking we were afforded an aid by the Imperial Museum of Tokyo in the form of a contribution towards the funds for the expenses of photographs.” (Preface to ‘Decoration of Palace Buildings of Peking’).
