Traditional bound version (1914) 大正3
Modern version (1978) 昭和53
Rankado Kiwa (爛柯堂棋話) (Go Tales from the Studio of Hayashi Genbi) was written by Hayashi Genbi in 1849. It was first serialized posthumously in Jiji Shinpo in 1910-11. In 1914, the material was finally published in book form in 3 traditionally bound volumes titled Heaven (天), Earth (地) and Man (人). The first two volumes gathers together many stories, narratives, and essays from the history of go and of contemporary happenings on the go scene. The last volume collects 72 famous games.
The modern version published in 1978 consists of two green cloth-bound books in cardboard slipcases. The photo just shows the slipcases with the books inside.
A very famous set of books which seems to be quite interesting for fans of go history. But probably wouldn’t recommend it for people who just want to learn more techniques.
Also check New In Go article #55 for a bit more info on these books.
http://www.gogod.co.uk/NewInGo/NewInGo.htm
(via webarchive)