[DainihonJogakukai, Edited by]. 大日本女学会編纂. 婦人寶典. 5巻 9冊 [Fujin hōten。5-kan. 9-satsu].[Women's Valuable Guidebook], 1904

Dealer description: 郁文社. [Ikubunsha]. 東京. [Tokyo]. Meiji 37 [ 1904]. Colour fold out woodblock plate first volume, colour plates, black and white woodblock text illustrations, 22.4 x 15.5cm. 5 volumes in 9 parts, misbound lacking last 164 pages of Volume II, double folded leaves, Volume I Part I: 104pp; Volume I Part II: 145pp; Volume II Part I: 114pp; Volume III: Part I: 139pp; Volume III: Part II: 153pp; Volume IV: Part I: 126pp; Volume IV: Part II: 137pp; Volume V Part I:140pp; Volume V Part II: 99 + [6]pp. Bound in contemporary cream debossed card covers, four hole string binding, paper title label upper covers. Little minor soiling and browning, lower edges two volumes annotated. This five-volume guidebook for women, published in 1904, was designed as a self study text covering the various duties women were expected to perform in the family home. In the foreword, the editors highlight the disparity in education between girls and boys, emphasizing that while girls received less formal education, their domestic responsibilities were far more varied and complex. These volumes aimed to address this gap by providing women with practical and theoretical knowledge essential for managing a household. This objective was endorsed by prominent women of the time, including Iwakura Hisako and Nabeshima Nagako, wives of Meiji aristocrats, who contributed calligraphed poems to the volumes. The books cover a wide range of topics, blending practical skills with broader intellectual subjects. They include sections on ethics, courteous manners, cooking, sewing, calligraphy, tea ceremony, and child-rearing. Surprisingly, they also delve into more expansive themes such as economics, politics, and classical literature. For instance, the third volume features Western table manners for dinner parties, complete with an example of an English invitation letter and its appropriate reply. This suggests that the intended readership was relatively well-educated women who could appreciate and engage with these broader topics. In this sense, the contents of this work is more aspirational than purely practical, reflecting the editors' vision of elevating women's roles beyond mere domesticity. The books proved popular and were reprinted several times during the late Meiji and early Taisho periods, indicating their influence and relevance to the evolving societal expectations of women during this transformative era in Japanese history. [Asia Bookroom]