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A History of Japanese Literature (1899), written by the diplomat and Japanese and Korean scholar William George Aston, is the oldest comprehensive survey of the large Japanese literature having been published in English. Its range is from the Archaic period (before A.D. 700) until the so called Tokio period in the second half of the nineteenth century and covers all lyrics, poetry, prose and children's stories.

The Japanese have a voluminous literature, extending over twelve centuries, which to this day has been very imperfectly explored by European students. Forty years ago no Englishman had read a page of a Japanese book, and although some Continental scholars had a useful acquaintance with the language, their contributions to our knowledge are unimportant. Much has been done in the interval, by writers of grammars and dictionaries, to facilitate the acquirement of this most difficult language, and translations by Sir E. Satow, Messrs. Mitford, Chamberlain, Dickins, and others, have given us interesting glimpses of certain phases of the literature. But the wider field has hitherto remained untouched. Beyond a few brief detached notices, there is no body of critical opinion on Japanese books in any European language, and although the Japanese themselves have done more in this direction, . . .

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The Monthly Challenge for November contains 66 works. You can help by reading the guide and contributing to the current challenge.

This month:

Pages processed: 3950 (131.7% of target)
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Yesterday: 171

Last month:

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The current Proofread of the Month is A Grammar and Vocabulary of the Language of New Zealand (1928) by Thomas Kendall.

Recent collaborations: Little Fuzzy, Creation by Evolution, Recollections of Full Years, The Heart of Jainism, The Silent Prince, A Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet, The Tower, Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope, The Story of the Flute, The Art of Kissing

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