Crepe Paper Books

Q I own an 1893 first edition crepe paper book, ”The Story of Coodles – The only Coodles.” How rare is this and what is the value?

A Crepe paper books (chirimen-bon in Japanese) were first published by Takejiro Hasegawa, a Japanese publisher, in 1886. A series of children’s books were made for the Western market. They were written in English and other languages and illustrated with Japanese woodblock prints, After the pages were printed, the paper was dampened, separated with grooved cardboard molds, and pressed, using a special lever press. The process was repeated several times before binding the pages. Usually the pages were printed on one side, folded in half with the printed side showing, and bound together with the folded side out. First edition books are usually worth more than later editions. You should take the book to a rare book dealer to see what it is worth.