Mifune Shuko (1 results)
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Published by Qingdao: Mifune Shashinkan, 1915, 1915
- First Edition
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United KingdomPeter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB.
Contact seller5-star sellerCondition: Used
US$ 486.35
US$ 29.68 shippingShips from United Kingdom to U.S.A.Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketSecond edition, first printing, of this album of photographs of Qingdao in the First World War. It contains many shots from the only major land battle of the war to take place in China, including of heavy weaponry, soldiers on the march, encampments, and local infrastructure. As part of the succession of unequal treaties imposed… upon the Qing Dynasty in the late 19th century, the German Empire leased Jiaozhou Bay in 1898 and used it to build the city of Qingdao. This became its primary naval base in the region, and therefore a major target in the First World War. Under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902, Britain requested help from the Japanese Empire to dislodge the German forces. The Imperial Japanese Navy proceeded to blockade the port and land their troops, putting it under siege in September 1914. The garrison held out for two months, but was overwhelmed. This was the only major land battle in the Asian theatre of the First World War, the second air-sea battle in world history, and the second time that the Japanese had defeated a major Western power. This volume is a collection of photographs taken during the preparation, fighting, and aftermath of this battle. The photographer was Mifune Shuko, who "accompanied the soldiers through thick and thin, running through a rain of bullets, facing rain and wind, hunger and frost, putting his body on the line to photograph the war" (p. ii). The volume opens with a colour photograph of Lingyan Temple near the city of Tai'an, followed by hundreds of black and white photographs showing not just the battle itself, but also the city of Qingdao and its people. This second edition was released 10 days after the first edition, on 25 April 1915. Octavo. With 121 pages of half-tone photographs, one colour photograph of Lingyan Temple; text in Japanese and English. Single page of publisher's advertisements to rear. Original black ribbed cloth boards, light green thread binding, spine ends capped in purple cloth, blind vertical rule to both boards, front board lettered in gilt. Signature to title of "Hermann Walter 1. Nov. 1914". Boards worn, a few tidemarks, gilt tarnished, title page with one chip to top left corner and one closed tear repaired with tape, light offsetting, plates bright: a very good copy.
