BIRD, Isabella. Unbeaten Tracks in Japan. An Account of Travels in the Interior, including Visits to the Aborigines of Yezo and the Shrines of Nikkô and Isé. London: John Murray. 1880.
Two volumes, 8vo. Original pictorial cloth; pp. xxiii, 398; xiv, 383; wood-engraved frontispiece to each volume, wood-engraved illustrations to text, one folding colour map; a near-fine set, in the rarely seen publisher's binding.
First edition. The pioneering traveller Isabella Bird (later Bishop) visited Japan in 1878. Accompanied by her guide-interpreter Ito, she travelled over 1400 miles through the country on horseback, providing a diverting spectacle for many of the inhabitants with whom she came into contact. Her Unbeaten Tracks offers a compelling account of her experiences as well as a unique picture of Japan at a time of great change. Due to her good connections to British politicians and diplomats she was able to travel without passport and designated route, unlike other Westerners. Perhaps the work's greatest value lies in its description of the Ainu, the aboriginal peoples of the Far North of Japan, misunderstood by the Japanese themselves and little known elsewhere. Bird finds them fascinating and departs from them "with real regret".
Wenckstern I.43.
SKU: 2124097