ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 45 | June 2000
Japan in Trousers
Left: Harold S.Williams and his wife Jean at home in Shioya, Japan, 1969. From the Harold S. Williams Collection.
Yofuku: or Japan in Trousers by Sherard Vines is one of a number of valuable books in the Harold S. Williams Collection to receive preservation treatment. This collection at the National Library of Australia is widely regarded as one of the worlds most significant resources on the history of foreign settlement in Japan and foreign interaction with Japanese society. Williams (18981987) was an Australian businessman, writer and collector who spent most of his adult life in Japan. He built up an extensive library of books, manuscripts, pictures, journals and other materials, which he later donated to the Library.
He also established the Harold S. Williams Trust Fund to be applied primarily for the maintenance, improvement and purchase of additions to the collection. Projects have recently been undertaken with support from the trust fund to prepare a detailed list of manuscripts in the collection and to carry out preservation.
The Guide to the Papers of Harold S. Williams in the National Library of Australia has just been published by the National Library (ISBN 0 642 10718 1). It was compiled by Corinne Collins, a former staff member in the Librarys Manuscripts Section. The Williams papers include subject files, correspondence, scrapbooks, articles, lectures, notes, drafts of his works and the works of others, photographs and programs.
The bulk of the Guide consists of descriptions of the thirteen series into which the Williams papers are divided. For example, the entry for Series 1 folder 67 on JapanAustralia trade reads: Notes, references, press cuttings, correspondence and typescript relating to the early history of trade between Japan and Australia. The commodities included camels, coal, Japanese swords and rifles, meat, silk, tea and wool.
The Guide also includes a select bibliography of works by Williams; a box list; a folio box list and a microfiche list for the photograph albums. A survey of the books in the Williams Collection by conservator Joy Tonkin found that of the 2297 items 80 per cent were in very good condition. Most of the remainder required only minor repairs, boxing or to be placed in folders. She completed these tasks during 1999. There were also a few valuable imprints, which were in a fragile condition and could no longer be used without damage. Nine items have now been microfilmed, while Joy has also provided major restoration to 66 other titles. The microfilmed titles include Charles MacFarlanes Japan: An Account Geographical and Historical, published in London by George Routledge in 1852. Examples of the books which have been extensively repaired are the 1909 printing of Japan as Seen and Described by Famous Writers, with annotations by Harold Williams, and Schiffs limited edition Final Notice: A Shanghai Emergency Sketchbook from 1942, hand-coloured and signed by the artist.
For further information or copies of the Guide, please contact Andrew Gosling, Chief Librarian, Asian Collections, (02) 6262 1286, fax (02) 6273 4327, email: agosling@nla.gov.au.
Andrew Gosling
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: gateways@nla.gov.au