The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1877-09-06

Circulating Libraries in Japan
The circulating library is of prehis-
tOrlc origin among the Japanese people,
who long ago devised this means TO OBJ
tain a knowledge Ofthis copious litera-
ture OF their language in a convenient
and economical u AT present
there are many of these libraries in
TOkio-some put the number as high
AS Il ~thousand-of which those of ID.
lsey a and Nagatoya are the principal.
A few facts concerning the business of
the former gentleman may be interest
ing as indicating its scope and extent.
The library contains about 10000
volumes, mostly treating of light and
popular themes, narratives of the heroes
of history and romance, tales Of love
and murder, sprinkled with a few books
on science and other more solid sub
jects. The works most sought after are
among others, the "Sangokushi," or
narratives of battles of the three coun-
tries, in s%eventy-flve volumes; "Taiko-
XII" or Life of Hideyoshi, in 800 vol
umes; "Sanada Sandalki," or Life of
lyeyasu, In $50 volumes; "%Stukoden,"
or the Story Of One Hundred and Eight
Balls, In seventy five volumes; "Hak-
ken-den," or the Story of Eight Dogs,
in 1876 volumes, and "Nanba Senki," OF
the Battle of Osaka, in sixty-four vol
umes. Of the novels, which are here
rs predOminantly love stories as in all
nations on the face of the globe, as far
as heard from, "UmegO yomi," EMU
sumo setsuyo" and "Yanagino yokogu.
shi," are the most esteemed. The first
of these three is the longest, the woes
and joys being drawn out in that work
TO the almost i%nsupportable extent of
sixty volumes.
These books are distributed through
out the city by the proprietor, if the
library be a small affair, or by appren-
tees if of large proportions. The liter
AIRY itinerants may be easily distin-
gulshed by the high pile of books borne
on the back and wrapped in a cloth
cOverlet, forming a grOtesque bundle
which the artists and carvers never tire
of depicting in all kinds of ludicrous
exaggeration. The customers of MIR.
Iseya are about two hundred in number
though it is to be presumed that each
of the units that make up this aggregate
is, 80 to speak, a collective noun, re-
presenting a large reading circle. The
prices paid by the borrowers vary from
three mills to three cents and two mills
a volume, the rates being very equal,
through the operation of long COMPETE
ton between the libraries. The most
costly books are not necessarily the
largest moi those packed with the most
useful information, for in this depart
ment of human activity, as in others,
the demand for, not the merit of, a work
regulates the market price. The
cheapest, strange as it may seem at first
sight, are the bulkiest, which are
generally manuscripts. These are written
AZ deslredby the patrons, at the cost of
one mill and a half a page A good PEN
man can cover one hundreds pages a
day, at a compensation therefor of fif-
teen cents. This labor is performed by
the proprietor In the intervals of busis
ness. or by his clerks.
The Government, recognizing the
usefulness of the libraries and the ina
bility of their customers, who are
mostly found among the lower classes
Of society, to bear any unnecessary
burdens, subjects these institution to no
lax. In return, they are forbidden to
sell any volumes, unless at auctions
which are held twice or three a year, at
which times the used-up books are
sold or exchanged for what they fetch.
These discarded volumes make their
way, step after step, to the pavement
dealers, whose stock of secondhand
literature Is often as curious of its kind
as any to be found in the by-ways of
New York or London. What becomes
of them finally, as what becomes of the
pins, is a mystery. But we may be sure
that before they find themselves in the
paper mill deposits, or are entirely an
initiated by simple attrition, they have
carried from home to home an aggre-
gate sum Of information or delight
which 1t would be hard to estimate
TOXIC Times.