Mapping Isabella Bird: Geolocation & Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1880)Main MenuAboutMapping Isabella BirdIsabella Bird: A Brief BiographyWriting on the World StageIsabella's Bird's Writing Around the WorldTraveling to JapanIsabella Bird's 1878 Trip to Honshu and HokkaidoInteractive Map CollectionSeveral maps created from the content of Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1878) to help visualize Isabella Bird's journey.Illustrating the BookUnderstanding the intersections between Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1880) and visual culture.Why Unbeaten Tracks?Biratori & Bird's Account of Ainu CultureThe Saru River Valley TodayCitation & ResourcesCiting this Website and Resources for More Information on Isabella Bird and the AinuChristina M. Spikere61b5e490351847c25b28288e317e5248c8241f0Christina M. Spiker
Illustration: The Yomei Gate, Shrines of Nikkō
1media/11176253154_95d82784fd_o_thumb.jpg2018-02-13T03:33:03+00:00Christina M. Spikere61b5e490351847c25b28288e317e5248c8241f0110Image from frontispiece of Unbeaten Tracks in Japan, vol. 1. This shows the Yomeimon (Yomei Gate) at Tōshōgu Shrine in Nikkō, Japan. It is sometimes called "higurashi-no-mon" as one could look at the gate until sundown and not grow tired of it.plain2023-01-31T19:14:46+00:00Unbeaten Tracks in Japan1885Public DomainBritish LibraryIllustration36.7571715° N, 139.59779° EChristina M. Spikere61b5e490351847c25b28288e317e5248c8241f0
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12018-02-13T02:14:00+00:00Christina M. Spikere61b5e490351847c25b28288e317e5248c8241f0Volume 1Christina M. Spiker9Isabella Bird's Journey from Yokohama to Aomori in 1878. These images were scanned from the British Library's collection.plain492018-02-13T15:46:12+00:00Christina M. Spikere61b5e490351847c25b28288e317e5248c8241f0
1media/Screen Shot 2018-02-13 at 12.55.06 PM.pngmedia/Screen Shot 2018-02-13 at 12.55.06 PM.png2018-02-13T16:48:07+00:00Christina M. Spikere61b5e490351847c25b28288e317e5248c8241f0Interactive Map - Illustrations from Unbeaten Tracks in JapanChristina M. Spiker12A GOOGLE map showing Isabella Bird's illustrations geocoded according to where they are mentioned in the original text.google_maps2018-02-13T19:12:37+00:00Christina M. Spikere61b5e490351847c25b28288e317e5248c8241f0
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1media/Woodcuts-and-Wood-Engraving1.jpg2018-02-15T23:04:19+00:00Christina M. Spikere61b5e490351847c25b28288e317e5248c8241f0Wood Engraving ProcessChristina M. Spiker12Learn about the wood engraving process in nineteenth century publication.plain2018-02-16T03:55:04+00:00Christina M. Spikere61b5e490351847c25b28288e317e5248c8241f0
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1media/Shiba_Temple_LACMA_M.91.377.47.jpg2018-02-15T15:30:33+00:00Annotated Images12Ongoing crowd-sourced research on the original sources for the Isabella Bird's illustrations in Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1880).plain2018-02-19T17:51:46+00:00Isabella Bird includes 42 illustrations over the course of the two-volume Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (40 in-text illustrations and 2 frontispieces). In the preface to her book, she explains the source of the illustrations:
The illustrations, with the exception of three, which are by a Japanese artist, have been engraved from sketches of my own, or Japanese photographs.
Considering the visual nature of Unbeaten Tracks in Japan, this portion of the website is dedicated to understanding the relationship between these illustrations to the original source images on which they are based. Through the links below, you can view images that have been annotated by Christina M. Spiker and other contributors. Prof. Spiker is an art historian who is interested in the deep relationships between images and text in works meant to introduce Japanese culture to Western audiences in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She has written specifically about the Ainu illustrations in Unbeaten Tracks in Japan in a chapter here.
Not all source images have been discovered at this time and your help is needed. If you see a photograph that is not yet annotated, but you know a possible source connection, please participate by commenting below the illustration in question or getting in touch via e-mail. Your discovery will be credited on this website.
