EDO SATIRICAL VERSE ANTHOLOGIES

[Tokyo 1961], Hokuseido. Brown cloth, very good, 312p.,11 bw photos, color frontispiece & folding photos, index, biblio- graphy, dj., copy in collector's condition. SCARCE FIRST EDITION This excellent monograph begins with a history of Oriental Humour, European Satire, and 18th century Edo satirical ver- se. The he leads in to Mutamagawa for 18 chapters, and on to Mankuawase, Yanagidaru, Parodies of Hyakunin Isshu, Suetsu- muhana, Kawasoe Yanagi, Yanagidaru Shui &c. This is a serious work on Senryu verse. Well done, with may Japanese texts translated expertly into English by the author. Zen master D.T. Suzuki described Blyth as "one of the most emi- nent exponents of Japanese culture." Blyth's studies on Haiku, Japanese humor, and Zen are "unique contributions towards East-West understanding." Blyth lived and worked in the East for 40 years, until his death in 1964. ALWAYS RARE! Reginald Horace Blyth. **** A very well written, readable set of books. The celebrated Zen master D.T. Suzuki described Blyth as "one of the most eminent exponents of Japanese culture." **** ZEN AND HAIKU: Blyth's studies on Haiku, Japanese humor and Zen are "unique contributions towards East-West understanding." Blyth lived & worked in the east 40 years, until his death in 1964. The history of Zen is the history of moments. It cannot be, like the history of ideas, or even the history of the freedom of thought, an account of development, systematization, criticism, modification, replacement and so forth. Zen seems to become deeper sometimes, shallower, broader, narrower sometimes, but there is no progress of the ordinary kind. It is a history only in the sense of being a list of names of great men in the attainment of great and so forth. Zen seems to become deeper sometimes, shallower, broader, narrower sometimes, but there is no progress of the ordinary kind. It is a history only in the sense of being a list of names of great men in the attainment of great Buddha-hood. * BLYTH'S CONTRIBUTION: Blyth lived and worked in the East for forty years, until his death in 1964 at the age of sixty-six. From the time of his internment in Japan during World War II, Blyth wrote assiduously. In the 1950's, his "ZEN IN ENGLISH LITERATURE" and "ORIENTAL CLASSICS" and "HAIKU" reached enthusiastic readers in America and Europe. Aldous Huxley describes Blyth's work as "illuminating." As William J. Higginson writes in his "HAIKU HANDBOOK," thanks to Blyth "a new interest in Japanese Haiku began to grow among poets of the immediate post World War II generation." . Blyth's Contribution to cross-cultural understanding was manifold. In 1945, Blyth assumed a post as professor of English at Tokyo's Gakushuin University, the former Peers' School. For almost twenty years he tutored Crown Prince Akihito, the present Emperor. Blyth played a leading role in Emperor Hirohito's historical declaration of January 1, 1946, that he was a human being rather than a god. Blyth edited numerous writings from English and American literature, making them available to avid Japanese readers. **** BIBLIOGRAPHY: * Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics, The Hokuseido Press, 1942 Haiku, 1949-1952, in four volumes: Vol.1: Eastern Culture. Vol.2: Spring. Vol.3: Summer-Autumn. Vol.4: Autumn-Winter. The Hokuseido Press . Japanese Satirical Verses, The Hokuseido Press, 1949 Japanese Humour, Japan Travel Bureau, 1957 Japanese Life and Character in Senryu, 1959. Oriental Humor, 1959. . Zen and Zen Classics, in five volumes: Vol.1: General Introduction,from the Upanishads to . Huineng.1960. Vol.2: History of Zen.1964. Vol.3: History of Zen.1970. Vol.4: Mumonkan.1966. Vol.5: Twenty-Five Zen Essays.1962. The Hokuseido Press. [Note: this set's numbering is complicated, see us for complete information on what comprises a full set.] . Edo Satirical Verse Anthologies, 1961. The Hokuseido Press. A History of Haiku in two volumes: Vol.1: From the Beginnings up to Issa. Vol.2: From Issa up to the Present.196. …