I accidentally left Lectures on German Reader 1 (獨文讀本巻之一講義) on the train last week, putting the kybosh on my plans to blog about it then. Luckily, a few awkward phone conversations* located it at the end of the line I ride to work, and now I have it back again.

First published in 1913, the book was apparently based on an existing German Reader 1 by Herren Ōmura, Yamaguchi and Taniguchi. The added "lecture" (講義) component includes word-by-word glosses and in-depth discussion of difficult structures. Here's a sample:

Äsop reiste einmal in eine kleine Stadt. Unterwegs begegnete er einem Reisenden. Dieser grüßte ihn und fragte: „Wie lange muß ich gehen, bis ich jene Stadt erreiche, die wir von weitem sehen?“ „Geh!“ antwortete Äsop.

I think that the best way to re-member the Japanese translation they have in mind is:

イソップがある小さな町へ旅行した或時、彼が途中で一人の旅人に出會った。此男が挨拶して彼に「吾々が遙に望見してゐる所のあの町へ達する迄には、私が如何程長く歩かねばならぬか」ト尋ねた。イソップは「歩け」ト答へた。

Note especially the numbers 1-7 in the traveler's question. They tell the Japanese reader what order the pieces would be in if the sentence was Japanese. I suspect that this notation is descended from the kaeriten used in kanbun.

Note also, gentle reader, that Aesop is a complete asshole. The rest of the story is as follows: Aesop continues to respond to the traveler's polite inquiries with a rude "Go!" until the traveler finally gives up and starts walking. Aesop then calls after him: "Two hours!" The traveler turns back: "Why didn't you tell me that before?" Aesop: "I didn't know how long it'd take you to walk there until I saw how fast you could walk." The traveler then injures Aesop grievously. (Okay, I made that last part up. But it should have been in there.)

Update: Mea culpa! See comments. Finally: have you ever wondered what's under the stamp-and-seal on the copyright page of expensive and/or classy Japanese books?

Me either, but it turns out it's a notice saying "UNAUTHORIZED COPY". This is the default case for any book published under this system; it can only be overriden by placing the magic seal of authenticity atop it. (I think in the case of this book, though, the seal just fell off.)