THE BEAR-WORSHIPPERS OF YEZO AND THE ISLAND OF KARAFUTO (SAGHALIN) OR THE ADVENTURES OF THE JEWETT FAMILY AND THEIR FRIEND OTO NAMBO by [Fenollosa, Ernest]: Greey, Edward - 1884

Boston & New York: Lee and Shepard / Charles T. Dillingham, 1884. xiii,[3],304,[2]pp. Large, thick octavo. Half gilt calf and marbled boards, pictorial panels of original binding bound in. Frontis and illustrations. A few incidents of marginal spotting, otherwise a very good copy. First edition. A superb association copy, inscribed by the author to American Orientalist and modernist literary influence, Ernest Fenollosa, utilizing Fenollosa's Japanese honorific: "Mast. Kano Fenollosa with the affectionate remembrances of the Author Edward Greey 20 E 17 St New York Oct. 20 1883[?]." After serving with the British military during the Second Opium War, Greey (1835-1888) traveled to Japan in the diplomatic service and immersed himself in the country's language, culture and art. In 1868, he settled in New York, opening a shop specializing in Japanese art and antiquities, and subsidizing that income as a writer. In addition to formal works such as the present, which afford a valuable insight into aspects of Japanese history and culture from a Westerner's point of view, Greey was a prolific contributor to the pulp press and boy's papers, often under pseudonyms. He took his own life in 1888 under mysterious circumstances. As a somewhat older contemporary of Fenollosa, he would no doubt have ample reason and opportunity to make his acquaintance, either in the U.S. or during travels back to Japan on business. Beyond his considerable importance as one of the preeminent Orientalists of the last quarter of the 19th century, Fenollosa left an indelible influence on Ezra Pound and W.B. Yeats, who worked mightily to edit his unpublished manuscripts and notes and disseminate his ideas.