I was cleaning out some boxes of old books and memorabilia this past weekend and found a little gem of a book I’d forgot. It’s by Lafcadio Hearn and contains a collection of short stories and original art work by Manabu C. Saito. The original cover of the book is lost, so I don’t know the title. The date of the book is circa 1910 or 1920; it’s almost a century old.

The drawings for the stories are jewel-toned and rich. The characters all wear traditional Japanese clothing. They are on fine, but very old parchment paper. The book itself has almost completely come apart at the seams; even so, the beauty of the drawings remain.

There are six stories in the book, but the images here come from The Fountain of Youth and the Gratitude of the Sambito. I love old posters and old artwork. I hope you enjoy these images.