B367.  Swordsmiths of Japan: 1926-1945 by Fuller & Gregory.  1983.  Softbound, wrapped in plastic taped inside the covers, 6 x 8 ¼”, 271 pages in English, This is the 2nd of the WWII Swordsmiths oshigata books.  Together with the 1st volume (see my # B366) these 2 books give the most comprehensive accounting of the men who worked making swords for the Japanese war effort.  These books are very difficult to come by.

This book was too large for the type of binding that was chosen for it; most copies are falling apart.  In my years of book selling I have seen only one copy that was perfectly intact.  This copy is complete; no pages are missing or loose. My 1st picture is of this copy; the rest are from a different copy sold earlier. I didn’t want to risk popping the binding if I opened it too far for pictures. The spine is soiled from handling, the binding shows slight offset of page blocks (some pages stick out a bit), and a former owner’s name is written inside the front cover.   For this book, this is excellent condition.  1 pound.  $195.