KAEMPFER, Engelbert (1651-1716). 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, by J.G. Scheuchzer...With the life of the author. London: Printed for the translator [Volume II: for the Publisher], 1727, 1728.

2 volumes, folio (347 x 209 mm). Engraved allegorical titles, letterpress titles printed in red and black; 45 engraved plates with neat manuscript numbering on verso, most double-page or folding and including folding map of Japan. (Engraved title with a few marginal repairs affecting image, D2 in vol. 1 with tear crossing text repaired, repaired tears to some plates and maps, some minor dampstaining and soiling.) Modern calf-backed boards. Provenance: "Lent April 11 1785" (inscription on engraved title vol. I); a few early marginal annotations; Mercantile Library Philadelphia (stamps on engraved and letterpress titles and a few other leaves).

FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH of volume I, second edition of volume II. Kaempfer's work was translated by Scheuchzer, librarian of Sir Hans Sloane, who acquired Kaempfer's botanical specimens after his death. "After Kaempfer's death, his manuscripts passed into the hands of Sir Hanse Sloane, who had the German manuscript on Japan translated and published. The resulting History of Japan (1727) was for more than a century the chief source of Western knowledge of the country" (DSB VII:205). The work includes a biography of Kaempfer, a history and description of Japan and its fauna, descriptions of Nagasaki and Deshima, reports on embassies to Edo, and 6 appendices on tea, Japanese paper, acupuncture, moxa, ambergris, and Japan's seclusion policy. Volume II was expanded in the second edition to include additional voyages. Cordier, Japonica p.414-15; Cox I:332 ("the most authoritative account of that country published at that time"); Wellcome III:376.

Property from the Dorros Family Collection