Material Collection of Japan's Policy Toward Dokdo and the Surrounding Ocean (Four Volumes)

Ulleungdo: Dokdo Museum, 2006. First Editions. Octavo; Vol I 28 + xii pp in English, 1132pp in Japanese; Vol II 24 + xii pp in English, 1118pp in Japanese; Vol III 24 + xi pp in English, 1017pp in Japanese; Vol IV 40 + vi pp in English, 769pp in Japanese. Uncommon: only two copies in WorldCat. Black linen with gilt lettering on spine and front panel. Maroon ribbon marker bound into each volume. All textblocks unmarred and unmarked. All bindings clean and cosmetically as new but note that all four bindings show seeming signs of having been shaken, though not from actual mishandling: the volumes have been well cared for. The original publisher's choice for encasing the extremely heavy textblocks, however, has resulted in weakened joints and cracking hinges when the volumes have been stood upright on the shelf. As a result, the front hinge of Vol III is completely cracked, and the rear hinge of Vol IV is starting. Lee Jong-hak (1927-2002) was the first director of the Dokdo Museum. The museum is dedicated to the history of the islets in the Japan Sea known in Korea as Dokdo, in Japan as Takeshima, and in the West as the Liancourt Rocks; they remain subject to a longstanding territorial dispute between South Korea and Japan. The museum adamantly supports South Korea's claim, and these four volumes, published posthumously, compile Lee Jong-hak's collection of documents related to South Korea's and Japan's territorial claims on it. Each volume opens with a brief introduction and tabular index in English, but the body of the exhaustive documentation comprises the minutes of discussions in the Japanese Diet and other parliamentary assemblies, as follows: Vol I: 1951-1962 Vol II: 1963-1977 Vol III: 1977-1992 Vol IV: 1993-2000, with material from the Parliament of Shimane Province 1995-2000.…