Madame Chrysantheme

1st English edition, first printing, translated from the original French by Laura Ensop. Colour illustrated extra title page. Numerous monochrome vignettes of Japan etc throughout. 336pp. In decorative green cloth boards with deep green lettering etc. (Boards are worn, rounded and discoloured on corners, lightly scuffed at ends of sunned spine, some mild marks). Previous owner’s name on front paste down; front free endpaper absent. Some spotting on first and last few leaves. Cracked gutters between front and rear endpapers. We would not normally offer a book in this condition, but first editions of this title are hard to find, and expensive, and this copy may serve to fill a gap in a collection until a better copy can be sourced or afforded. A novel presented as a journal of a naval officer stationed in Nagasaki and married to a Japanese women who, during the summer of 1885, has an affair with Kiku (Madame Chrysantheme). A very popular novel in its time, running to at least 25 editions in its first five years, it is widely held as a key text in shaping European attitudes toward Japan in the late 19th century.