ORIENTAL HUMOUR

Tokyo, Japan: The Hokuseido Press, 1959. Rare first printing published in 1959. Fine in a fine dust jacket with protective mylar cover housed in the original publisher's rare cardstock slipcase titled in black with publishers seal on back. Blyth's classic English-language work on Japanese, Chinese & Korean humor from all periods (India is not included). Full orange cloth with black lettering. Illustrated with a color frontispiece, 36 plates (7 in color), each with a titled tissue guard with notations about the plate, plus 6 text illustrations. xii, 582 pages. Reginald Horace Blyth (1898 – 1964) was an English author, teacher, poet, and friend and student of Zen Buddhism under D. T. Suzuki. As a devotee of Japanese culture Blyth is most famous for his writings on Zen, Haiku poetry, and Senryu. He almost single-handedly popularized Haiku in the West. During the war Blyth was interned as an enemy alien in Japan alongside Robert Aitken. After the war he worked hard to encourage a peaceful dialogue between Japan and the West, and was one of those who drafted Emperor Hirohito's official declaration that he was in fact human and not divine. Blyth died in 1964 and was buried in the cemetery of the Shokozan Tokei Soji Zenji Temple in Kamakura, next to his old friend, Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki. Suzuki described Blyth as "one of the most eminent exponents of Japanese culture." See photos. . First Printing (Stated). Hard Cover. Fine/Fine.