Momotaro (Little Peachling)

Kobunsha, 1885. Paperback. Fair. Fair. 1885 Kobunsha, "2 Minami Sayegicho, Tokio" (Tokyo, Japan). Date is in Japanese system, Meiji 18 = 1885. Japanese Fairy Tale Series number 1. Title "Momotaro" in transliterated Japanese on front cover. Silk string-bound plain paper book, approximately 4.75 x 7.2 inches. Binding along left edge consists of two sets of four holes stabbed through the paper, with white silk threads forming an X on the back and two knots on the front. Spine is not covered. Color woodblock illustrations on covers and many pages. Front cover has illustration of a Samurai and animals in Samurai costumes at a gated entrance. Covers wrinkled and soiled, with a one-inch tear at the top of the front cover that goes through the title, and a spot of white paint in sky. String binding intact. Corners worn. Back cover is soiled and illustrated pattern barely visible. Pages have some mild staining overall, but one pair of facing pages has suffered from moisture damage that has resulted in about a quarter of one image being obscured and made the text on the facing page blurred but readable. First page has similar damage over peach illustration. Fore edge of back cover is detached at fold for most of length. Pages lightly and uniformly tanned but still supple. NO highlighting or other markings, but in a few places the red coloring from the illustrations has transferred to the opposite page. Unpaginated; 18 folded pages (9 leaves). Inside of back cover lists numbers 1-12 in the series. See our listings for other numbers in this series. Carefully packed, shipped in a box. This item will be shipped with signature confirmation.