Nisshinkan dojikun [Nisshinkan School Injunctions].
66; 45 folding leaves. Two vols. Large 8vo, orig. pale blue wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. [Aizu Fiefdom]: Preface & Afterword dated 1803.
First edition and very rare; WorldCat lists only one copy, at Harvard. Matsudaira (1744-1805), fifth in the daimyo line of the Aizu domain (now in parts of the Fukushima and Niigata Prefectures), was imbued with Neo-Confucian idealism.
The Aizu domain “used this text as a primer [consisting of 53 injunctions] in ethics and etiquette at its official domain school the Nisshinkan…to prepare boys for future careers serving Aizu as samurai-administrators. Enrollment at... More