The Correspondence of a Pioneer Japanologist - Sir Ernest Satow's Private Letters - to W.G.Aston and F.V.Dickins - from 1870 to 1918

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Margaret

A curated collection of Sir Ernest Satow’s private correspondence with W. G. Aston and F. V. Dickins, spanning 1870 to 1918, reflecting Satow’s work as a pioneer Japanologist. The material is edited by Ian Ruxton with an introduction by Peter Kornicki, and includes transcriptions from the Satow Papers alongside scholarly annotation and indexing. Accompanying visuals and quotations draw attention to Satow’s diplomatic experiences in Japan and China, with diary extracts and contextual commentary about key figures and events.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages352

Reading Time9 h 2 min

AccessFree to download

The Correspondence of a Pioneer Japanologist

Editors, introduction, and source basis

Selected diary excerpts and contextual notes

Portraits and documented imagery

Sir Ernest Satow's Private Lettersto W.G.Aston and F.V.Dickins # The Correspondence of a Pioneer Japanologistfrom 1870 to 1918 Edited by Ian RuxtonWith an Introduction by Peter Kornicki # Sir Ernest Satow's Private Letters toW.G.Aston and F.V.Dickins The Correspondence of a Pioneer Japanologistfrom 1870 to 1918 Transcribed from the Satow Papers,annotated and indexedby Ian Ruxton With an Introduction by Peter Kornicki Ernest Satow as a young man of 26 years,photographed in Paris during his first homeleave from Japan in December 1869(reproduced with permission of the YokohamaArchives of History) “When in Rome…”Satow and Austrian diplomat Baron Hübner visit a Japanesehome.The sketches are by Josef Alexander Freiherr von Hübner who was in JapanJuly-October 1871.Satow and Hübner visited Prince Iwakura Tomomi's home with theBritish chargé d’affaires F.O.Adams on September 11,1871 and they were together onseveral other occasions.Satow later gave the Rede lecture at Cambridge University in1908 about Hübner's career.From Alexander Freiherr von Hübner,Ein Spaziergang umdie Welt,mit 317 Abbildungen und dem Portraet des Verfassers,Leipzig 1882,following p.192.(Courtesy Professor Peter Pantzer) Satow,Hübner and F.O.Adams(left to right in picture)make merry at the house ofthe Minister of Foreign Affairs Sawa Nobuyoshi(September 9,1871).Sketch byHübner in Ein Spaziergang um die Welt,following p.216(Courtesy Professor PeterPantzer). Satow's diary for this date describes this scene in detail: “Sept.9.Dined with Sawa in company with Adams &Baron Hübner.Miyamotoand Kondo (Sawa's headman &clerk at F.O.)joined us a[t]table.Painting in watercolours before and after by a female servant,a male retainer and Sawa himself.Timeoccupied in each hasty sketch 3 to 5 min.Music on harp,lute,violin &flageolet byfour blind men.Young Sawa's wife also performed on harp,but showed not her face.” In A Diplomat in Japan,Chapter XXVIII,Satow writes of Sawa as follows: "Next day [March 1,1868-diary],Daté introduced to the Foreign RepresentativesSawa Mondo no Kami,one of the five fugitive court nobles of 1864,who wasproceeding to Nagasaki as governor,together with the daimio of Omura,who was tofurnish his guard.Sawa wore a rather forbidding expression of countenance,not tosay slightly villainous,but for all that he had the look of a good companion,and ayear or two later,when he was minister for Foreign Affairs,we liked him greatly.” 1 Sir Ernest Satow the prominent diplomat,pictured in the Illustrated London Newsdated September 29,1900-the date Satow arrived at Shanghai to replace Sir ClaudeMacDonald as envoy,which was confirmed between them at Peking on October 215(see Satow's diary).Satow's portrait appears here under the heading 'The Crisis inChina’.The Legations had been under siege from the Boxers from June 20th to August14th,and at one point all had been reported to be massacred. (With thanks to Dr.Nigel Brailey for drawing my attention to this portrait.) Satow with the other Ministers of Foreign Powers at the Spanish Legation in Peking,1900.He is standing in the doorway on the right at the back.The other envoys are,fromleft to right:(Lower step)E.H.Conger(U.S.A.),B.J.de Cologan,the doyen of thediplomatic body(Spain),Freiherr A.von Mumm(Germany);(Second step)Baron M.De Giers(Russia),Baron Czikann de Wahlborn(Austria-Hungary);(Third step)Marquis G.di Salvago-Raggi(Italy),Baron Nishi (Japan),M.N.Joostens(Belgium).On Satow's left is probably Baron d’Anthouard(French Legation Secretary). This photograph was by James Ricalton(1844-1929)an American photographercommissioned by Underwood &Underwood.It appears in Christopher J.Lucas,JamesRicalton's Photographs of China During the Boxer Rebellion His Illustrated Travelogueof 1900,Lewiston,New York:The Edwin Mellen Press,1990(pp.234-235). (Courtesy Terry Bennett Collection) V Portrait of Sir Ernest Satow by'Spy',the pen name of caricaturist Sir Leslie Ward(1851-1922),in Vanity Fair,Ap

FAQs

Who are the correspondents in Satow’s private letters?

The letters are addressed to W. G. Aston and F. V. Dickins.

What is the time span covered by the correspondence?

The correspondence covers the period from 1870 to 1918.

How is the volume prepared by editors and scholars?

The text is edited by Ian Ruxton with an introduction by Peter Kornicki, transcribed from the Satow Papers, and includes annotations and an index.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Margaret