Daigaku nanko (1 Ergebnisse)

4to (215 x 296 mm). 18 ff., plus blank endleaves. Woodblock printing on washi paper in original paper wrappers, fukurotoji binding (block-bound) in the Japanese style. Housed in a modern blue cloth chitsu. The very first German primer to be published in Japan by the Japanese Academy of Daigaku Nanko, the institution that, a few years later, became the University of Tokyo. It features German phonetics and reading texts as well as the numerals and basic mathematics (with joke arithmetical problems). - The book belongs to the 'Fibel' genre (ABC books), and its particular objective was the teaching of the German alphabet without the use of any Japanese text. This suggests that it was intended for teacher-led classroom use (cf. Shirooka, p. 71). As one of the earliest German teaching materials in Japan, "Die ersten Lectionen" was produced to make up for the lack of German dictionaries, which were not yet available, and of imported textbooks, which were only slowly spreading during that period (cf. ibid., pp. 68f.). - This book was published at the very beginning of the Meiji era (1868-1912), when Japan could finally open up to Western powers, importing knowledge and books. Shirooka attests that the Japanese Academy of Daigaku Nanko had at least one German teacher (Gottfried Wagener), probably a sign that Japan was finally allowing instruction in foreign languages (cf. p. 78). This work is exceptional for its combination of Western and Eastern features: German-language contents are printed in a traditional Japanese format with fukurotoji binding and leaves folded at the fore-edge. - This copy bears several pencil annotations. Two names appear on the first leaf: the first can probably be read as "Nagaoka Fusako"; the reading of the second remains uncertain. These inscriptions may identify former owners or users of the book. Additional Japanese kanji appear between ff. 8 and 9 (printed pages 4 and 5). These are rapidly written Japanese translations of German words, probably added by a student using the primer. - A fine copy of the first German primer produced in Japan, retaining handwritten ownership inscriptions and study annotations. - Some browning to wrappers, with a small label on the upper cover and a wormhole in the lower one; some waterstaining to margins throughout. Two leaves show purple inkstains. - Pencilled ownership inscription, possibly by the first owners, namely Nagaoka Fusako and Ko Setsujun. - Cf. Keiji Shirooka, "1871-nen kanko no Daigaku Nanko no Doitsugo kyozai ni tsuite: Gengoteki tokucho kara mita henchosha mondai o chushin ni", Shizuoka Daigaku Jinbun Gakubu.…