The Cambridge History of Japan
Castalia Library announces a new limited edition historical set
Castalia Library extremely pleased to announce that the Library has recently acquired the special deluxe publishing rights to THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF JAPAN. This will be a highly-collectible, very limited edition set of nine volumes bound in calfskin, with a total print run of 250 sets.
THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF JAPAN is the first major collaborative synthesis to present the current state of knowledge of Japanese history for the English-reading world. The series draws on the expertise and research of leading Japanese specialists as well as the foremost Western historians of Japan. From prehistory to the present day, the series encompasses the events and developments in Japanese polity, economy, culture, religion and foreign affairs. In the distinguished tradition of Cambridge histories, the completed series provides an indispensable reference tool for all students and scholars of Japan and the Far East.
The massive historical set, which is published by Cambridge University Press in 4,740 pages divided into six very large books, is very highly regarded as the definitive work on the subject of Japanese history.
“A tour de force that at once represents the culmination of several generations of scholarship and heralds the advent of a new level of sophistication in the study of Japan's early modern history.” - Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies
“Essays by six American and six Japanese specialists provide readers with significant new perspectives and detailed information on political and economic institutions, foreign relations, and cultural developments...will be required reading for anyone wishing to take the measure of medieval Japanese historiography in English.” - Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History
“A project that bears the marks of careful planning and organization by experienced editors who are themselves distinguished historians of Japan....Clearly written and free of jargon, all essays contain topical subheadings that are helpfully placed at the top of the pages as well as within the texts.” - Canadian Journal of History
“All teachers, students, and researchers into Japan's past should be grateful that there is now an authoritative source describing the entirety of Japanese political and cultural history in greater detail that ever before.” - Monumenta Nipponica
Due to the fact that three of the hardcovers exceed our quality standard for spine width, each of those three will be divided into two volumes ranging from 422 to 440 pages, thereby bringing the total number of books in the deluxe Castalia Library set to 9 volumes. We have not yet settled on the pricing, or decided upon the titles of the three additional volumes, but we expect to announce those things in April. We can confirm that both single-payment and monthly-subscription options will be available.
Leaning towards allocating the funds for this. I’m not an Asia guy, but what it is is worth the cost, given CH’s ballpark. Any personal library should have some general reference in areas outside the main interest, and this certainly qualifies. I’d have grabbed the standard CUP set of I’d seen it at a second hand book store or fair. But the quality CH is hitting now tips it over. The execution matches the exhaustive scholarship. A gorgeous piece of collector book art and a research standard.
I can’t think of any collector-oriented prestige publisher producing this kind of scholarly content. Easy to see why CUP perceived value in the arrangement once they saw what you’re capable of. It’s a unique niche on both sides. I’ve generally been a collector of content over object, though CH has won me over. A comprehensive authoritative Japan survey that covers off that content and adds that kind of class to the library is the best of both worlds.
Two months late to this and just came across your wonderful company. I am seriously interested in this upcoming series publication and don’t really understand how I would subscribe to this specifically. Would the books be available in a subscription through Arkhaven as a standalone offer for the 9 volumes?