Property from the Collection of
The Late HARLAN NISSEN
KAEMPFER, ENGELBERT. The History of Japan, giving an Account of the ancient and present State and Government of that Empire... translated from his Original Manuscript, never before printed... With the Life of the Author. London: Printed for the translator 1727-28. 2 vols., folio, 335 x 214 mm. (13 3/16 x 8 1/2 in.), contemporary blind-panelled calf, rebacked, edges red-sprinkled, board edges quite worn, inner hinges cracked, engraved title shaved at fore-edge, folding map of Japan browned and with one-inch fold break, slight cropping to plates 18-20, 36 and 37, pl. 37 with short tear entering image, fols. O1-2 and P1 stained, small dampstain to lower fore-corners in vol. 1, occasional light mostly marginal foxing. FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH, translated by Johann Caspar Scheuchzer, additional engraved title, letterpress titles in red and black, list of subscribers, Index bound at end of vol.1, Second Appendix bound at front of vol. 2, woodcut head-pieces and initials, 45 engraved plates, most double-page, 9 folding, including large folding map of Japan. Cordier, p. 413; Nissen BBI 1019.
Kaempfer, a German physician, travelled throughout Japan in 1690-91. His History, an encyclopaedic description of the Japanese flora and fauna, government and industries, remained the chief source of Western knowledge of Japan for over a century. This English translation by Scheuchzer, the librarian of Sir Hans Sloane, who had acquired Kaempfer's botanical specimens after the author's death, was the first published edition of the work, preceding a Latin edition in 1728, Dutch and French editions in 1729, and a German edition in 1777. (2)
Details
KAEMPFER, ENGELBERT. The History of Japan, giving an Account of the ancient and present State and Government of that Empire... translated from his Original Manuscript, never before printed... With the Life of the Author. London: Printed for the translator 1727-28. 2 vols., folio, 335 x 214 mm. (13 3/16 x 8 1/2 in.), contemporary blind-panelled calf, rebacked, edges red-sprinkled, board edges quite worn, inner hinges cracked, engraved title shaved at fore-edge, folding map of Japan browned and with one-inch fold break, slight cropping to plates 18-20, 36 and 37, pl. 37 with short tear entering image, fols. O1-2 and P1 stained, small dampstain to lower fore-corners in vol. 1, occasional light mostly marginal foxing. FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH, translated by Johann Caspar Scheuchzer, additional engraved title, letterpress titles in red and black, list of subscribers, Index bound at end of vol.1, Second Appendix bound at front of vol. 2, woodcut head-pieces and initials, 45 engraved plates, most double-page, 9 folding, including large folding map of Japan. Cordier, p. 413; Nissen BBI 1019.
Kaempfer, a German physician, travelled throughout Japan in 1690-91. His History, an encyclopaedic description of the Japanese flora and fauna, government and industries, remained the chief source of Western knowledge of Japan for over a century. This English translation by Scheuchzer, the librarian of Sir Hans Sloane, who had acquired Kaempfer's botanical specimens after the author's death, was the first published edition of the work, preceding a Latin edition in 1728, Dutch and French editions in 1729, and a German edition in 1777. (2)
Kaempfer, a German physician, travelled throughout Japan in 1690-91. His History, an encyclopaedic description of the Japanese flora and fauna, government and industries, remained the chief source of Western knowledge of Japan for over a century. This English translation by Scheuchzer, the librarian of Sir Hans Sloane, who had acquired Kaempfer's botanical specimens after the author's death, was the first published edition of the work, preceding a Latin edition in 1728, Dutch and French editions in 1729, and a German edition in 1777. (2)