Splendours of Japan: Highlights from the Bodleian Library

This exquisitely illustrated collection of essays by leading scholars and experts offers a glimpse into the Bodleian Library’s collection of rare Japanese books and manuscripts.

The Bodleian Library houses one of the oldest institutional collections of Japanese rare books and manuscripts in Europe, dating back to the first half of the seventeenth century.

This beautifully illustrated collection of essays written by leading scholars and experts offers a glimpse into its rich and multifaceted history, celebrating four hundred years of collecting. In Splendours of Japan, readers will learn about early encounters between England and Japan, explaining how Japanese books and manuscripts arrived in England from the archipelago in the seventeenth century. In addition, other contributions include an examination hand-brushed poetry anthologies, which arrived at the Bodleian at the turn of the century; the production and use of hand-made paper, color pigments and ink; and an overview of the thriving publishing market in Japan during the early-modern and modern period.

Among the stunning items are exquisitely painted scrolls, manuscripts of Noh plays, the oldest trade agreement between England and Japan, and early printed books.

The Bodleian Library produces beautiful and authoritative books that help bring the riches of Oxford’s libraries to readers worldwide. They publish on an extensive range of subjects, including catalogs and other titles related to their exhibitions, illustrated and non-illustrated thematic works and facsimiles, gift books, and children’s books and stationery.