A Series of Conversation for Use of the Inspectors of Imperial Custom-House.

Kobe: Inspectors Department, Customs,, 1904. The list does not mention cheese. Why is that? First edition, first printing, and untraced in institutional collections. 19 chapters cover scenarios from the arrival of a ship and the discharging of cargo to inspections and audits. A 28-page bilingual appendix of common words and phrases is followed by the English-language text of Japanese laws concerning customs duties, tonnage, and bonded warehouses and goods. The Kobe customs house was established in 1868 and grew in importance relative to the expansion of international trade in the Meiji period. At the dawn of the 20th century, while Osaka was the most prosperous commercial centre in Japan, its shallow waters meant that its trade was all funnelled through nearby Kobe, only 18 miles away. The contents shows that Kobe's inspectors wrestled with the kind of complex problems and scenarios associated with globalized commerce and modern legal structures. Copies were never distributed commercially, likely explaining its scarcity today. Tall duodecimo. Original green cloth, front cover lettered in gilt, covers and edges rounded, orange endpapers, edges red. Text in English and Japanese; sections divided with orange paper leaves; errata slip tipped onto rear free endpaper verso. With the ownership stamp of one Takashita on the front free endpaper verso, rear free endpaper recto, and final page; rear endpaper with two additional stamps and "29" in manuscript; very small red stamp on title page and final page. Cloth worn, light foxing and toning internally. A very good, evidently much-used copy.