The Lady Who Loved Insects.. This item is unavailable.The Lady Who Loved Insects.

First edition, first impression, number 28 of 50 deluxe copies signed by the author, bound in green silk, and printed on handmade paper. This intriguing short story, the original Japanese text of which was never completed, tells of an eccentric young aristocratic woman who breaks away from the courtly role she is expected to play. Waley produced this translation in the period when he was working on his renowned multi-volume version of The Tale of Genji. The first edition totalled only 550 copies, with the remaining 500 bound in cream silk boards. Johns A18. Octavo. Dry-point frontispiece and similar additional title page, two similar vignettes in text. All dry-points by Hermine David. Original green silk over bevelled boards, spine and front cover lettered in gilt, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Binding bright with just a little rubbing and sunning, contents clean. A near-fine copy.