How the Use of Illustrated Books (Ehon) Helped Japanese Studies to Develop
beyond Japonaiserie: The Case of Henri L. Joly (1876-1920)
Noboru Koyama

Today, I would like to talk about “How the Use of Illustrated Books, Ehon [絵本] Helped
Japanese Studies to Develop beyond Japonaiserie”. Particularly, I would like to take up thecase of Henri Joly, a French man who was very active in the studies of Japanese art during
the early part of the 20th Century.
At first, I would like to outline my presentation. Theses are the main items of mypresentation.
1. Who was Henri L. Joly (1876-1920)?
2. Henri L. Joly’s Japanese Studies
3. Legend in Japanese Art (1908)
4. Ehon (Illustrated Books)✱Ehon Shahō-bukuro (絵本写宝袋)✱Ehon Tsūhōshi (絵本通宝志)✱Ehon Kojidan (絵本故事談）✱Ehon Hōkan (絵本宝鑑)✱Zōho Ehon Hōkan (増補絵本宝鑑) + J. J. Hoffmann
5. Textbooks, Grammar Books (教本), Cursive Script, Variant Forms of Kana (くずし
字・草書・変体仮名), Written Seals or Signatures (花押, かきはん)

1. Who was Henri L. Joly (1876-1920)?
As for the image of Henri Joly, I could manage to find only one photograph of him. This
photograph was taken by Kuwabara Yōjiro (桑原羊次郎) in Henri Joly’s study in February
1912. The image is not so clear.

1Henri Joly was born in Loire region, France in 1876. When he was 16 to 19 years old, hestudied at the Ecole d’Arts et Metiers d’Angers, a technical school in Angers.

Henri Joly worked for electric companies in Paris for a couple of years and then he went to
London when he was 22 years old. He worked for “Electric Undertakings”, a company ofelectric cars and then he moved to another company of electric vehicles, “Electromobile”
and worked for the company for many years. He was an expert on batteries and hepublished articles on this subject.
During World War One, he worked for a Lycée in London as a part-time teacher and he diedin 1920 at the age of 44 years old.

We can summarise Henri Joly’s qualification as an engineer as this. He was a Member of theInternational Electricians’ Society which was a French organisation. He was a Gadzarts, a2

graduate of “Ecole d’Arts et Metiers”. Also, he was an Associate Member of the Institutionof Electric Engineering, which was a British organisation and an Associate of the American
Institute of Electric Engineering.

’pHenri Joly was a collector of Japanese works of art and books. After his death, his collectionof Japanese art was sold at the auction house, “Glendining”. According to its catalogue,
1,895 items were sold and the majority were Tsuba [鐔](sword guards), and other sword
fittings, “Sagemono” [提物], such as Netsuke, Inrō and others. As for the book collection,
Henri Joly’s widow sold western language books to Bernard Quaritch, a famous bookshop in
London. According to its catalogue, we can estimate over 150 items were sold. Henri Joly’s
widow, Florence sold around 100 volumes of Wakosho [和古書] to the British Museum at
the price of 70 pounds in 1921. The majority of those books are now kept at the British
Library, but some are possessed by the British Museum.
洋書• Bernard Quaritch, Ltd (London)
Catalogues…., 1921
over 150 items??
和古書• British Museum (Library)around 100 volumes£70 (£2,000? or €2,300? now)
1921

The following books written or edited by Henri Joly. “Legend in Japanese Art” was his firstbook. He translated Arai Hakuseki’s and Inaba Tsūryū’s works with Inada Hogitarō, an art
dealer from Kyoto.
3• Legend in Japanese Art (1908)• Japanese Sword-mounts: a Descriptive Catalogue of the Collection of J. C. Hawkshaw(1910)• Japanese Sword Fittings: a Descriptive Catalogue of the Collection of G. H. Naunton (1912)• Arai Hakuseki: the Sword Book in Honchō Gunkikō and the Book of Samé, Kō Hi Sei Gi of
Inaba Tsūriō (1913)• W. L. Behrens Collection (1913)• Catalogue of the H. Seymour Trower Collection of Japanese Art (1913)• Japanese Art & Handicraft (1916)• List of Names, Kakihan Collected from Swordmounts & C.『小杉軒集』 (1919)
His last book was “List of Names, Kakihan”. Its Japanese title was “Shōsanken Shū”(小杉軒集). “Shōsanken” was Henri Joly’s Japanese name. It means a “Tengu” who lived on small
cedar trees.
The followings are Henri Joly’s articles. Also, he was an editor of the Transactions andProceedings of the Japan Society, London.
• ’Introduction à l’Étude des Montures de Sabres’, Bulletin de la Société Franco-Japonaise deParis, N.14 (1909)• ’Note sur Le Manuscrit “Toban Shinpin Zukan” de la Bibliothèque de Nordenskiöld’,
Bulletin de la Société Franco-Japonaise de Paris, No.21 (1911)• ‘Bakemono’, Transactions and Proceedings of the Japan Society, London, Vol. 9 (1912).
• ’Random Notes on Dances, Masks, and Early Forms of Theatre in Japan’, Transactions andProceedings of the Japan Society, London, Vol. 11 (1914)• ’Subjects in Japanese Art’, Transactions and Proceedings of the Japan Society, London, Vol.
11 (1914)• ’Note sur le Fer et le Style Namban’, Bulletin de la Société Franco-Japonaise de Paris, No.33(1914)• ’Inscriptions on Japanese Sword Fittings’, Transactions and Proceedings of the Japan
Society, London, Vol. 15 (1917)
Henri Joly used Wakosho for his articles and books. For example, he referred to these
Wakosho in his following article in French. As for these Wakosho, we could guess that Henri
Joly was inspired by Okabe Kakuya’s publication, “Japanese Swords Guards” (Museum ofFine Arts, Boston, 1908).
•’
à ’É’ Bulletin de la Société Franco-Japonaise
de Paris, N.14 (1909)(Introduction to the Study of Japanese Sword Mounts)『本朝軍器考』 (Honchō Gunkikō)『裝剣奇賞』 (Sōken Kishō)『万宝全書』 (Banpō Zensho)『集古十種』 (Shūko Jisshu)『武器袖鑑』 (Buki Sodekagami)
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『古今金工便覧』 (Kokon Kinkō Benran)『金工鐔寄(金鍔奇掇)』 (Kinkō Tanki, Kingaku Kitetsu)『鏨工譜畧』 (Sankō Furyaku)『裝剣備考』 (Sōken Bikō)『古今鍜冶備考』 (Kokon Kaji Bikō)『肥後金工録』 (Higo Kinkōroku)

Next, I would like to introduce two Japanese art experts’ opinions about Henri Joly’s
Japanese language ability. They are Masaki Naohiko (正木直彦), Head of Tokyo Art School
and Kuwabara Yōjirō (桑原羊次郎), an expert of metal works. They met Henri Joly in
London.
Masaki Naohiko says:“〔此人〔アンリ・ジョリー〕は仏蘭西人でございまして、英吉利西に住て居る人でございます、此人は電気の技師であります、日本へは未だ曾て来たことのない人でありますけれど
も、日本の言葉には精通して居る人であります”、“日本語の達者なことは驚くばかりの人であります、”
This man [Henri Joly] is a French man who lives in England. He is an electric engineer.
Although he has never been to Japan, he has got a thorough knowledge of the Japanese
language. It is amazing that he is good at Japanese.

Also, Kuwabara Yōjirō wrote about Henri Joly as follows:“氏ノ書斎ノ棚ハ日本美術工芸品ヲ以テ満載シ、中央テーブルノ下ヲ書籍箱トシ、日本ノ故実書、歴史、鑑定書ヲ充実セリ。氏ハ日本漢字交リノ文章ヲ書キ、又俳句歌詞ヲ作ル。殊ニ日本装剣金工品ノ研究ニ於テハ、欧州稀覯ノ大家ニテ、予倫敦滞在中ノ親友ナリ。”
His [Henri Joly’s] study’s shelves are full of Japanese arts and crafts. He has made a bookbox under the central table of the study and filled it with books about old customs andmanners, history and connoisseurship. He can write Japanese sentences which include
Chinese characters and also composes Haiku [Japanese short poems]. Particularly, he is arare authority about the study of Japanese sword fittings in Europe. I had friendly relations
with him when I stayed in London.

Regarding Henri Joly and Wakosho, I would like to introduce “Tōban Shinpin Zukan” (刀盤神品図鑑) or another title “Tōban Shōkan Kuketsu”(刀盤賞鑒口訣). It is a manuscript writtenby Matsumiya Kanzan（松宮観山）. It is regarded as the first Japanese research work about“Tsuba”, sword guards or mounts. Most of the book consists of illustrations of “Tsuba”.
Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, a Swedish explorer acquired the book in Japan in 1879 and it has
been kept at the Royal Library in Stockholm. Nordenskiöld’s Japanese book collection was
catalogued by Léon de Rosny in 1883. Henri Joly borrowed the book through a kind of inter5

library loan system from Stockholm to London and used it in London and published thearticle about “Tōban Shinpin Zukan” in 1912.

3. Legend in Japanese Art (1908)
Returning to Henri Joly’s Japanese language learning, I would like to focus on his first andmajor work, “Legend in Japanese Art”. It was published in 1908. The year 1908 was quite
important for the history of automobiles. In that year, Henry Ford introduced the Model T.
Since then, internal combustion engines have dominated as power sources for automobiles
and they expelled electric vehicles from the industry until recently.
In the Introduction of “Legend in Japanese Art”, Henri Joly says:“A special study of Japanese illustrated books helped to enlarge the scope of this note
book, opening a fascinating field of research which seemed only to grow wider as theauthor’s knowledge increased.”
According to Henri Joly, “this note book” means his personal database on folk-lore andhistorical episodes in Japanese art.
From this description of the Introduction, we can understand that Henri Joly had learned a
lot about the subjects of “Legend in Japanese Art” from illustrated books, “Ehon”.
Also, Henri Joly listed 182 Japanese books and 96 Western language books in the“Bibliography” part of “Legend in Japanese Art”. Most of these Japanese books are
Wakosho and a lot of illustrated books are included. Henri Joly says: “a list is given of thechief illustrated sources of information in the Japanese language, especially of those which
can be consulted in the national collections.” Even from the bibliography, we can find that
Henri Joly used a lot of Wakosho, particularly illustrated books, Ehon for “Legend inJapanese Art”.
When “Legend in Japanese Art” was published in 1908, it lacked an “index”. Partially, itemsof contents were arranged alphabetically and also it contained an “Emblems and Attributes”
section too. But some readers considered it inconvenient. So, in 1978, 70 years after theoriginal publication, the indexed volume of “Legend in Japanese Art” was published. It was
titled “People, Places and Things in Henri Joly’s Legend in Japanese Art: An Analytical Index”.
I have used this book to analyse which Japanese illustrated books Henri Joly used for“Legend in Japanese Art”.
The following table shows which illustrated books Henri Joly used for his work. He used
“Hokusai Manga”, “Ehon Shahō-bukuro”, “Ehon Hōkan”, “Butsuzō Zui”, “Ehon Kojidan” andothers. As you know, illustrations of “Hokusai Manga” may have got names and titles, but
few textual explanations. “Butsuzō Zui” which the British Museum, now the British Libraryhas possessed contains a lot of William Anderson’s written notes and this book may havegot a lot of interesting issues, but in this case, I will put it aside. So, here I would like to6

focus on Tachibana Morikuni’s “Ehon Shahō-bukuro”, “Ehon Kojidan”, “Ehon Tsūhōshi” andHasegawa Tōun’s “Ehon Hōkan”.

『Legend in Japanese Art』の本文に書名が掲載された和古書（翻訳書を除く）
名（漢字）
北斎漫画
絵本写宝袋
絵本宝鑑
仏像 彙
絵本故事談
列仙伝
和漢三才 会唐土訓蒙 彙
列仙 賛
絵本通宝志
神事 燈

絵師 著者など
北斎
橘守国
長谷川等雲
土佐秀信
橘守国
劉向
寺 良安
橘守国
月僊
橘守国
石真虎

名が掲載されたページの数
31
27
17
16
14
10
8
7
6
5
4

How could Henri Joly know those Illustrated books, Ehon? He learned from WilliamAnderson’s works. Anderson’s “Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of a Collection ofJapanese and Chinese Paintings in the British Museum” has got “Bibliography” part and “2.
Books containing illustrations of familiar legendary, historical and other motives” contains“Ehon Shahō-bukuro”, “Ehon Hōkan”, “Ehon Kojidan”, “Ehon Tsūhōshi” and others.
William Anderson sold his paintings to the British Museum at the end of 1881 and sold 311
volumes of illustrated books, Ehon to the British Museum in the following year. Probably
most of them were registered on 27 July 1882. Some of them contain Anderson’s written
notes in pencil. There are Anderson’s notes on “Ehon Shahō-bukuro”, “Ehon Tsūhōshi”,“Utai no Ehon”, “Morokoshi Kinmō Zui”, but not on “Ehon Hōkan” and “Ehon Kojidan”.
The following shows the Titles of Ehon, Dates of Registrations and “Presence and Absence”
of Anderson’s notes.
✱ Illustrated Books（絵本）with Anderson’s Notes at British Library
Title ( 名)
絵本写本袋
謡曲画志
唐土訓蒙 彙
絵本通宝志
和漢名画苑
列仙全伝
絵本宝鑑
増補絵本宝鑑増補絵本宝鑑
絵本故事談
仏像 彙
列仙 賛
絵本鶯宿梅

絵師 著者など
橘守国
橘守国
橘守国
橘守国
岡春朴
王世貞
長谷川等雲
長谷川等雲
長谷川等雲
橘守国
土佐秀信
月僊
橘守国

Date of Stamp(登録印の日付)
27 July 1882
27 July 1882
27 July 1882
27 July 1882
27 July 1882
27 July 1882
27 July 1882
22 July 1868
13 February 1894
13 February 1894
13 February 1894
13 February 1894
13 February 1894

William Anderson's Notes（アンダーソンの 込）の有無
Hand written notes with a pencil（鉛筆による 込）
Hand written notes with a pencil（鉛筆による 込）
Hand written notes with a pencil（鉛筆による 込）
Hand written notes with a pencil（鉛筆による 込）
Hand written notes with a pencil（鉛筆による 込）
Hand written notes with a pencil（鉛筆による 込）
A little (わずか)
シーボルト コレクション
A little (わずか)Hand written notes with a pencil（鉛筆による 込）4. Ehon (Illustrated Books)
7

ō-bukuroNow, I can move to actual pages of illustrated books, Ehon. This is the first part of “Ehon
Shahō-bukuro”. The title of page (see the following) is “Waka no Sanjin, Tamatsushima
Myojin”. Anderson’s note is “Soto ori hime, Tamatsu shima miyojin, wife of Inkiyo Tenno’ssister”.
絵本写宝袋

の

1

The title of the next page is “左（ひだり） 正三位（じょうさんみ） 柿本人麿（かきのもとのひとまろ）”. But, Anderson’s note says “Yama beno Akahito”.

The title of the next page is “右（みぎ） 山辺赤人（やまべのあかひと）”. But Anderson’snote says “Kakino moto Hitomaro died about the period Shinki Tenpei”. So, Anderson was
confused about Kakinomoto no Hitomaro and Yamabe no Akahito and it seems he may nothave checked the actual Japanese texts.

8

In “Legend in Japanese Art”, Henri Joly wrote “Waka Sanjin” as follows.
“The three Gods of poetry are AKABITO, HITOMARU, and SOTORI HIMÉ (Shaho Bukuro I)”.
He copied Anderson’s notes, but he describes AKABITO instead of Akahito, Sotori Hime
instead of “Sotoori Hime”. In this case, it seems Henri Joly may not have checked theoriginal Japanese texts either.

h➞b

The follwoing shows “Ōshukubai no Zu” (鶯宿梅之図) in “Ehon Shahōo-bukuro” Volume
One. The story of the illustration is derived from “Shūi Wakashū”(拾遺和歌集) and“Ōkagami”(大鏡).
絵本写宝袋
（鶯宿梅

の
）

21

Anderson’s note says as follows.
“Emperor requested to offer a plum tree to a widow in near Kioto and she made odes, andEmperor much felt it and did not take it from her, its plum tree named Ôshikubai”.
On the other hand, Henri Joly’s “Legend in Japanese Art” reports as follows.
“Plum tree and the Otoguisu (Nightingale), allusion to a poem of Hakurakuten; a Daimio
wanted a branch of a plum tree, then in flower, but the owner of the tree, a woman,declined to break it by her reply, in the form of a verse meaning: “If the branch is broken,
where will the Otoguisu find a resting place on its return?”
Henri Joly described “a plum tree” as a “a branch of a plum tree“, “Uguisu” as “Otoguisu”
and also “Emperor” as “Daimio”. How did Henri Joly get such information, obviously notfrom the texts of “Ehon Shahō-bukuro”.
9ū ōThe following scene on “Ehon Tsūhōshi” shows that “Wu Tao-Tzu”(“Wu Daozi”), in Japanese“Go Dōshi” or “Go Dōgen” painted on the wall and disappeared into the painting. The
legend of this scene, “Disappearance of Wu Tao-Tzu(Wu Daozi)” is quite well-known.
Laurence Binyon, Herbert Giles, Arthur Waley, Walter Benjamin and Sven Lindqvist andothers have referred to it. A lot of people have used William Anderson’s description and his
information was derived from “Ehon Tsūhōshi”.

Anderson’s note about the above scene is as follows.
“Godôgen best artist of the period. The Emperor ordered him to paint in the white wall ofpalace, he painted ruins and he paint out small gate and said there is a Sennin, and then thegate opened naturally, and one boy come out and be reckoning with hand. Dogen says
inside is being splendid I shall come in head of you, please you will come afterward bereckoning Emperor with his hand but he could not go in, then the gate was shut, and Dogennever came? back again”.
The actual text of “Ehon Tsūhōshi” is as follows.

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The text of “Ehon Tsūhōshi” is derived from 有象列仙全伝(Yūshō or Yūzō Retsusen
Zenden)、“You xiang lie xian quan zhuan” edited by 王世貞（Ō Seitei）, Wang Shizhen.

2

Henri Joly’s explanation about this episode includes a couple of points which are notincluded in the original text, such as “He painted behind a vail” or “the paint faded away”.
Henri Joly likely took these from Anderson’s works.

Ehon Kojidan“Ehon Kojidan” contains the following episode about a hare or a rabbit which runs on wave.
絵本故事談 巻之一 兎走波上 博物志Actual text of this topic is as follows.
兎は望月にして孕み口中より子を吐くといへり。八月十五日夜月明なる水面を走りて感じて孕む。此夜月くらければ来年兎少也といふ。又一説に兎は雄の毫毛を舐てはらみ五月
をへて口より子を生ずといへり。

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It is said that the hare becomes pregnant on the night of the full moon and that she gives
birth from her mouth. The hare conceives after running on the surface of water in the
moonlight on the night of the 15th of August. It is said that fewer hares are born next year
if the moonlight of this night is dark. Also, according to another account, it is said that thehare conceives by licking the thin hair of the male hare and that she gives birth from mouth
five months later.
This episode is derived from 博物志（Hakubutsushi）, “Bo wu zhi”, the original book includes
the mention that the female hare or rabbit conceives on the night of the “full moon”.
Returning to the description of this topic in “Legend in Japanese Art”, there is one problem.
Henri Joly describes “the eighteenth day of the eight moon” in his book instead of “thefifteenth day”. He did not check the original text. Where did he get the idea of “theeighteenth day” instead of the full moon, the fifteenth day. This is probably because he readit in Anderson’s work. At first, Anderson made a mistake and Henri Joly repeated it too.

ō
Next, I would like to move to “Ehon Hōkan”. I would like to talk about “Ehon Hōkan”. The
British Library possesses four copies of “Ehon Hōkan”. On the other hand, the British
Museum has got none of “Ehon Hōkan”.
There are two versions of “Ehon Hōkan”, original “Ehon Hōkan” and “Zōho Ehon Hōkan”, an
enlarged and revised version of “Ehon Hōkan”. Also, there are two types of “Zōho Ehon
Hōkan”. One type contains the enlarged part in front of the original “Ehon Hōkan”. I would
call it “Type A” provisionally. The other type includes the enlarged part at the end oforiginal “Ehon Hōkan”. I would call it “Type B”. So, there are two types “Zōho Ehon
Hōkan”, “Type A” and “Type B”.

絵本宝鑑
Bri sh Library: ,絵本宝鑑 （アンダーソンが絵本宝鑑 （（アンダーソンがBri sh Museum : 0c ） （印）lri inal hon H

アンダーソンan） （印）e r ar） ri inal hon H an

アンダーソン

増補絵本宝鑑 （増補（ ）ンがc ） （印）l
シーボルトの絵本宝鑑（ ） 増補がho hon H an T pe A

増補絵本宝鑑 （の絵本宝鑑（

）（印）
l
シーボルト
）
増補
（ ） 増補がho hon H an T pe
1

12

The British Library possesses the original “Ehon Hōkan”, two copies and both belonged to
the Anderson collection. The British Library also has two types of “Zōho Ehon Hōkan”,“Type A” and “Type B”. Both belonged to the Siebold Collection.

As the following slide shows, Henri Joly used “Type B” of “Zōho Ehon Hōkan” for his “Legendin Japanese Art”.

On the other hand, Johan Joseph Hoffmann used “Type A” of “Zōho Ehon Hōkan” for his
Japanese teaching textbook, “Japanische Studien”. I guess that Hoffmann might have used
“Zōho Ehon Hōkan” in the Siebold Collection, which has been kept at the British Library.

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5. Textbooks, Grammar Books (教本), Cursive Script, Variant Forms of Kana (くずし 字・草書・変体仮名), Written Seals or Signatures (花押,かきはん)
I have already mentioned that Henri Joly’s Western language books were sold to Bernard
Quaritch, a famous bookshop in London. These Japanese textbooks and grammar books
were included. Henri Joly had Aston’s, Chamberlain’s, Hoffmann’s, Rudolf Lange’s andKuroda Takuma’s books.
Quartic Catalogue (No.362, February 1921)• W. G. Aston, A Grammar of the Japanese Written language with a Short Chrestomalthy(1872)• B. H. Chamberlain, A Handbook of Colloquial Japanese, 3rd ed. (1898)• B. H. Chamberlain, A Practical Introduction to the Study of Japanese Writing = Moji no
Shirube, 2nd ed. (1905)• J. J. Hoffmann, A Japanese Grammar (1868)• Rudolf Lange, Christopher Noss, A Text-book of Colloquial Japanese (1903)• Rudolf Lange, Übungs- und Lesebuch zum Studium der Japanischen Schrift (1904)• Kuroda Takuma, Petit cours de japonais, pour faciliter l'étude du language parlé (1898)
As for Kuroda Takuma’s book, the Quaritch Catalogue mentioned that it had Henri Joly’s
notes in it too. The book was sold by Quaritch in 1921. A 100 years later, I could manage toacquire the book through the Internet. It cost around 40 Euros. So, now I possess this book.
One of Henri Joly’s notes is about the Japanese term “bijutsu”.

é

é

5

14

In conclusion, Henri Joly was able to learn Japanese, particularly how to read Japanesebooks including Wakosho too. Probably, Ehon, illustrated books had helped his learning ofJapanese. Also, obviously he encountered various problems in this endeavour, such aslearning Kanji, Kuzushiji/Sōsho, Hentai-gana, Kaō or Kakihan and others. We can admire
how he worked on tackling these challenges for the foreign student, which even native
Japanese can find difficult.
When Piggott’s book, “Elements of Sosho” was published in 1913, he reviewed the book andhe wrote (Asiatic Review, Vol. 5, No.9, 191 , ‘Book Review of Piggott’s “Elements of Sosho”
by H. L. Joly’):“sōsho or grass writings…presents difficulties almost insuperable to the foreign student”
Also, he wrote as follows.
“[if the foreign student has mastered sōsho using The Elements of Sōsho] ,he would “beable to read with ease many of the puzzles besetting him daily in the form of letters,
postcards, or wood-printed script of pre-Meiji days”
Henri Joly mentioned “wood-printed script of pre-Meiji days” which meant Wakosho
themselves. Also, since Henri Joly’s last book was “List of Names, Kakihan” and his lastarticle was “Inscriptions on Japanese Sword Fittings”, we can assume that he was struggling
to master Japanese script until the end of his life.
Thank you.
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