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"Hawley and His Collection"
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The Frank Hawley Collection The Frank Hawley collection is very important for those who are interested in the study of Ryukyu or Okinawa. The collection, which is now housed in the University of Hawaii at Manoa Library, contains books and documents related to Ryukyu from Hawley's originally larger collection. These books and documents were transferred to the University of Hawaii after Hawley's death in 1961. Who was Frank Hawley?
1931 - 1941
1941 - 1945 (World War II period)
1946 - 1961
History of the Hawley's Collection During his first ten years in Japan, he collected more than 16,000 books. When Hawley returned to Japan after the war, he made a great effort to get back those books and successfully retrieved most of his collection. Fortunately, details of this affair were put on record so we can find approximate numbers of the books seized and all the names of the books returned to him. Under the application of the Enemy Property Administration Law, Hawley's collection was entrusted to the Mitsui Trust Company, as Civil Property Custodian on 27 August 1942. It was sold to Keio University Library for about 60,000 yen on 10 May 1943. On 4 November of the same year, Toshiko, Hawley's wife, wrote a letter to the Swiss Legation which represented British interests during the war, and asked them to preserve all the books.2The letter gave details of his collection as follows:
The letter indicated total number of volumes approximately 21,000, of which some 1,500 are in European languages (mostly English and French), the remainder being in Japanese and Chinese. Furthermore, a letter written by Hawley himself dated 15 September 1946 and addressed to the Civil Property Custodian, contained thirteen claims and listed the following number of books: "When, after my release from Sugamo prison (July 29, 1942), I left Japan for England on July 30, 1942, I was compelled to leave behind in my house at 45 Minamicho, Gochome, Aoyama, Akasakaku, Tokyo, my collection of European, Japanese and Chinese books, amounting to some 1,470 European items (in some 2,630 volumes) and some 3,261 Japanese and Chinese items (in some 15,000 volumes). The part which was not seized consists of some 207 European items and some 554 Japanese Chinese items, amounting in all to some 1,600 volumes.3 " According to an agreement4 concluded on 1 July 1949 between Hawley and the Japanese government, the number of books Hawley ultimately retrieved was as follows:
Total 2,919 titles 11,571 volumes In short, the Library which Frank Hawley left in Japan when he was repatriated comprised '3,261 titles, about 15,000 volumes of Japanese books' and '1,470 titles about 2,630 volumes of Western books'. Of these, 2,707 titles of Japanese books and 1,263 titles of Western ones, totaling 16,030 volumes were confiscated under the Enemy Property Administration Law and sold to Keio University Library through the Mitsui Trust Company. A part of the collection was destroyed in air raids and the number of books finally returned to Hawley was 2,483 titles of Japanese and Chinese books plus 438 titles of Western books, totaling 2,919 titles composed of 11,571 volumes. This was the Hawley Library collection before the war. After the war, it grew to a much greater collection until it was put up for sale at the auction of the Library of Frank Hawley held in April of 1961. At the auction there were 730 titles listed on the catalogue and total sales amounted to more than 24 million yen.5 The above mentioned agreement between Hawley and the Japanese government was accompanied by two catalogues of books; one for Japanese and Chinese books with a title of Inventory of the books in Japanese and Chinese languages on the cover, and the other for Western books with a title of Inventory of the books in European languages. We can obtain a synoptic view of the contents of Frank Hawley's Library before the War from these two catalogues. The catalogue for Japanese and Chinese books lists 177 titles of books related to Ryukyuan studies. Notes
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| Contact: Mitsutaka Nakamura Japan Specialist Librarian e-mail: mitsutak@hawaii.edu Asia Collection, University of Hawaii at Manoa Library 2550 The Mall, Honolulu, HI 96822 U.S.A. |
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