THE HISTORY OF JAPAN: GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF THE ANTIENT AND PRESENT STATE AND GOVERNMENT OF THAT EMPIRE ... TOGETHER WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE KINGDOM OF SIAM

London: for the Publisher, and Thomas Woodward and Charles Davis, 1728. First Edition. Hardcover. Light dampstaining in second volume. Generally clean and bright, Near Fine. Two folio (8-1/2" x 13-3/4) volumes in contemporary calf leather, neatly rebacked preserving the original gilt spine labels. First edition in English, second issue (with the additional appendix in volume 2), translated from the German by J. G. Scheuchzer. Titles printed in red and black with additional engraved titles and 45 mostly double-page or folding plates and maps. Kaempfer's HISTORY OF JAPAN "was for more than a century the chief source of Western knowledge of the country. It contains the first biography of Kaempfer; an account of his journey; a history and description of Japan and its fauna; a description of Nagasaki and Deshima; a report on two embassies to Edo with a description of the cities which were visited on the way; and six appendices, on tea, Japanese paper, acupuncture, moxa, ambergris, and Japan's seclusion policy" (DICTIONARY OF SCIENTIFIC BIOGRAPHY). Kaempfer was a physician for the Dutch East India Company's trading settlement at Nagasaki in the late 17th century. Sir Hans Sloane acquired the manuscript after Kaempfer's death, and arranged for it to be translated into English for this edition. Of significance is the fine folding map of Japan, "Imperium Japonicum in Sexaginta et Octo Provincias Divisum...."

Cordier, JAPONICA pages 414-15; Cox I: 332; Garrison-Morton 6374.11; See Nissen BBI 1019 note; Wellcome III: 376.