| 19世紀アメリカの旅行作家トマス・ノックス（Thomas Wallace Knox, 1835-1896)による、1879年から84年に出版された子どもや若者向け旅行記シリーズの復刻版です。
南北戦争時に新聞記者として活躍したノックスは、その後世界を旅し、各地での豊富な経験から40作以上の旅行記を発表、この時代を代表する人気旅行記作家となります。中でもThe Boy Travellers シリーズはもっとも成功し、世界へと目を向け始めていたアメリカ中産階級の子どもや若者向けの読み物、そして世界の中のアメリカを認識させる啓蒙書として刊行が続けられ、計20タイトルが出版されました。
今回復刻されるThe Boy Travellers in the Far Eastはこのシリーズ中の一部を成したもので、当初日本、中国からインドへの旅物語3巻本として企画されましたが、読者からの要望に応え、中近東とアフリカの巻が加えられ全5巻となり完結したものです。いずれもアメリカの二人の少年が各国を旅した冒険物語のスタイルをとっていますが、各地の地理、文化、社会、風俗に関する記述は、著者自身の経験に加え、当時の信頼できる書籍（例えば日本に関する情報はオルコックやグリフィスの著書）を活用し、できる限り正確に世界の最新情報を教えるよう心掛けられています。またカラー口絵や本文中の豊富な図版が、子ども達を見知らぬ地へと誘い、視覚的な理解も助けています。
アメリカの時代20世紀が始まる直前、アメリカの子どもたちはアジアについて何を教えられ、どのような知識とともにアジアを眺めていたのか？ 戦前のアメリカの日本・アジア研究者は若い頃にこのような冒険物語を読んでいたのだろうか？ 等々の問いかけとともに、様々な刺激を与えてくれる文献です。観光・旅行、アメリカ文化、児童文学・教育史、日米文化史、比較文化、東西文化接触など広い分野の研究にご活用ください。
Contents:
Volume 1:
The Boy Travellers in the Far East Part 1 - Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Japan and China
Harper & Brothers, 1879, c. 425 pp.
Volume 2:
The Boy Travellers in the Far East Part 2 - Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Siam and Java, with Descriptions of Cochin-China, Cambodia, Sumatra and
the Malay Archipelago
Harper & Brothers, 1881, c. 450 pp.
Volume 3:
The Boy Travellers in the Far East Part 3 - Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Ceylon and India, with Descriptions of Borneo, the Philippine Islands and Burmah
Harper & Brothers, 1881, c. 490 pp.
Volume 4:
The Boy Travellers in the Far East Part 4 - Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Egypt and the Holy Land
Harper & Brothers, 1882, c. 440 pp.
Volume 5:
The Boy Travellers in the Far East Part 5 - Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey through Africa
Harper & Brothers, 1884, c. 480 pp.
Preface in the Volume 1
To my Young Friends:
Not many years ago, China and Japan were regarded as among the barbarous nations. The rest of the world knew comparatively little about their peoples, and,
on the other hand, the inhabitants of those countries had only a slight knowledge of Europe and America. To-day the situation is greatly changed: China and
Japan are holding intimate relations with us and with Europe, and there is every prospect that the acquaintance between the East and the West will increase
as the years roll on. There is a general desire for information- concerning the people of the Ear East, and it is especially strong among the youths of America.
The characters in " The Boy Travellers " arc fictitious; but the scenes that p
assed before their eyes, the people they met, and the incidents and accidents
that befell them are real. The routes they travelled, the cities they visited,
the excursions they made, the observations they recorded?in fact, nearly all
that goes to make up this volume?were the actual experiences of the author a
t a very recent date. In a few instances I have used information obtained from
others, but only after careful investigation has convinced me of its entire c
orrectness. I have aimed to give a faithful picture of Japan and China as they
appear to-day, and to make such comparisons with the past that the reader can
easily comprehend the changes that have occurred in the last twenty years. An
d I have also endeavored to convey the information in such a way that the stor
y shall not be considered tedious. Miss Erne and " The Mystery" may seem super
fluous to some readers, but I am of opinion that the majority of those who per
use the book will not consider them unnecessary to the narrative.
In preparing illustrations for this volume the publishers have kindly allo
wed me to make use of some engravings that have already appeared in their publ
ications relative to China and Japan. I have made selections from the volumes
of Sir Rutherford Alcock and the Rev. Justus Doolittle, and also from the exce
llent work of Professor Griffith’s, " The Mikado's Empire." In the episode of
a whaling voyage I have been under obligations to the graphic narrative of Mr
. Davis entitled "Nimrod of the Sea," not only for illustrations, but for inci
dents of the chase of the monsters of the deep.
The author is not aware that any book describing China and Japan, and speciall
y addressed to the young, has yet appeared. Consequently he is led to hope tha
t his work will find a welcome among the boys and girls of America. And when t
he juvenile members of the family have completed its perusal, the children of
a larger growth may possibly find the volume not without interest, and may gle
an from its pages some grains of information hitherto unknown to them.
T. W. K., New York, October, 1879 |
