HAUMAN, Louis.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Yokohama en Flammes. First edition in book form, number 10 of 50 copies, of this eyewitness account of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1 September 1923. Hauman, a resident in Beijing, had boarded a ship to leave Yokohama at 11:30 am and experienced the earthquake from the water.Hauman recounts the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, writing that "we found ourselves at the centre of an enormous circle of fire, a cauldron of hell shrouded in mountains of thick smoke" (p. [6]). He describes people wounded by falling rubble attempting to board ships for safety, as well as oil spills in the bay catching fire and setting the water alight. He also recalls the dire condition aboard his boat due to the overcrowding, with no water, rancid food, and communications being jammed by the Japanese authorities. The graphic half-tone photographic illustrations show the cracked ground of the city, piles of dead and wounded people, and fire billowing from buildings.Hauman's account was first released in La Chine, Number 51, a French-language journal focused on China and run by the Beijing-based publisher Albert Nachbaur.

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