Charles Tuttle, 78, A Dealer in Books On U.S.-Asian Ties (original) (raw)
Charles Tuttle, 78, A Dealer in Books On U.S.-Asian Ties
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- June 11, 1993
Credit...The New York Times Archives
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June 11, 1993
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Charles E. Tuttle, chairman of the antiquarian and book publishing companies that bear his name in Boston, Rutland, Vt., and Tokyo, died Wednesday in Rutland, his hometown. He was 78.
He died in his sleep after a short illness, said the Charles E. Tuttle Company Inc.
From the end of World War II, Mr. Tuttle played a significant role in introducing Japanese and Asian culture to American readers. His purpose was to promote mutual understanding.
A Rutland native, Charles Egbert Tuttle learned the rare-book trade in the antiquarian bookstore of his father and namesake, Charles E. Tuttle Sr. He graduated from Harvard in 1937, spent some time working in the special-collection section of the Columbia University Library and returned to the family business in Vermont.
He served in the Army in World War II, was sent to Japan as a captain in the military government and stayed behind after his discharge in 1946. He started sending rare Japanese books to American libraries and discovered that the Japanese had a large appetite for American literature, which he tried to fill.
He also found that many Americans wished to know more about Japanese culture, about which few books existed. In 1951, he began to publish works on subjects ranging from Japanese cooking and etiquette to philosophy and language.
By 1962, Mr. Tuttle ran two thriving businesses -- one importing English-language books into Japan, the other publishing books about Japan and Asia for readers in the United States and the British Commonwealth. More recently, he shed some responsibilities on the publishing side. Instead, he devoted more time to his antiquarian business, in which where he worked until shortly before his death.
Mr. Tuttle is survived by his Japanese-born wife, Reiko.
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