Woodcut color-printed frontis. depicting Hososhin, the “smallpox god.” 24 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. orange wrappers, orig. block-printed title label on upper cover, new stitching. [Edo]: Preface dated 1849.

First edition of Kuwata’s most important book. Kuwata (1811-68), an Edo pediatrician, was one of the earliest Japanese doctors to introduce and popularize Western smallpox vaccination in Japan. He learned of the Western technique of vaccination from Otto Gottlieb Johann Mohnike (1814-87), who came to Japan in 1848 as the successor of von Siebold. Mohnike founded Japan’s first vaccination clinic in 1849 in Nagasaki. Earlier attempts at vaccination in Japan had failed due to... More

Three full-page woodcut illus. in the text. 49; 68; 57; 42; 23; 40 folding leaves. Eight parts in four vols. & two vols. of Addenda. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. block-printed title label on each upper cover (several placed on the wrong vols.), new stitching. Edo, Kyoto, Osaka: 1811.

First collected edition and very rare, with no copy in WorldCat. This edition gathers for the first time three important texts, hitherto unpublished (see below), by Ikeda on Chinese vaccination, along with the valuable two-volume Addenda. Ikeda (1734-1816), was a member of a prominent family of physicians, most famous for their smallpox treatment, using family secrets. He studied with Saimon-ge... More

Seven columns of text per page. 68; 72 folding leaves. Two vols. Large 8vo (285 x 206 mm.), orig. (or very early) dark thick wrappers (strengthened & with new endpapers), new stitching. From the colophon: Kyoto: Ekirin Hirai, 1597.

The setsuyoshu, the essential Japanese dictionary, “one of the mainstays of the publishing industry and…probably the most likely book to be found in a house of few books.”–Kornicki, The Book in Japan, p. 248. Widely used from the 15th century through the early Meiji period; there were more than 500 editions in many styles and formats, and many with additions. All early editions are extremely rare, as... More

56 (of 61) finely painted depictions in rich colors of lips & tongues pasted-in, text written in Chinese. 8vo (280 x 203 mm.), orig. wrappers (wrappers somewhat soiled), stitched. [Japan]: mid-Edo?

Tongue and lip diagnosis has been a vital tool used in traditional Chinese medicine for both assessing the current health of a patient and providing a basis for prognosis. This finely illustrated manuscript contains 39 finely and vividly painted illustrations of the tongue and 17 of the mouth and lips in various states of health.

The first illustration, which is missing, depicted a healthy pair of lips. Present are the surrounding manuscript annotations describing the 12... More

80 woodcut illus. in the text. 100; 89 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers (minor foxing & rubbing), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers (label on Vol. I no longer present), new stitching. Kyoto: Murakami Kanbei, 1668.

First Japanese edition, in Chinese with Japanese reading marks, of the Yin hai jing wei, a Chinese ophthalmological classic, with 80 woodcut illustrations of various eye diseases. Some Chinese authorities have suggested that Simiao Sun (581-682), the famous physician of the Tang dynasty, was the author of this work, but other evidence supports a later date for the work, at least during the Song Dynasty, and... More

Numerous woodcut illus. in the text. 46; 50 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo, orig. green wrappers (upper wrapper of first vol. & lower wrapper of Vol. II rather abraded), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers (Vol. I label largely perished), new stitching. Kyoto, Osaka, & Edo: 1826.

First edition. “In 1823 [sic, based on the third Preface dated 1823] appeared a two-volume work giving instructions in obstetrics entitled Sanka shinan by Shuisei Omaki. Included in that work was a discussion of normal and abnormal births, various methods of delivery, etc., with treatment for prolapse of the uterus. Examination of the placenta was stressed. Several... More

Numerous fine woodcut illus. (18 of which are finely hand-colored). 48 (irregularly paginated); 33; 39; 26; 28 folding leaves, [5] folding leaves of ads. Five vols. 8vo, orig. blue wrappers (wrappers a bit worn, occasional minor worming touching text), orig. block-printed title label on covers, new stitching. Tokyo: Mankyudo Hanabusa Heikichi, [Preface dated 1810].

First edition of one of the three most important early Japanese books on the history and technique of Chinese and Japanese acupuncture. This work is very different from all earlier Chinese and Japanese books on the subject. For the first time, the illustrations are finely and realistically rendered and are anatomically accurate, clearly influenced... More

Trans. by Yoan Udagawa. 14 finely detailed full-page woodcuts, several heightened in gray, red, silver, or blue wash. 21 vols. bound in seven. 8vo, orig. green patterned embossed wrappers, orig. block-printed title label on upper covers, new stitching. Edo: 1837.

First edition in Japanese of William Henry’s The Elements of Experimental Chemistry, which first appeared in English as An Epitome of Chemistry (London: 1801). It was a very successful book with numerous revised and enlarged editions; by the sixth edition, of 1810, the title Epitome had changed to The Elements, which also enjoyed numerous editions and translations.

“Seimi Kaiso plays an important role in the remarkable story of Western scientific influences in Japan. When this work first appeared in 1837, Japan had been almost completely isolated from the larger world for two centuries. The Japanese were not allowed to travel abroad, and only the Chinese and the Dutch were permitted to enter Japan. From about 1720, however, a group of Japanese scholars began studying and translating Dutch scientific literature that reported achievements taking place throughout Europe. Known in Japanese as the Rangakusha, meaning ‘scholars of the Dutch school,’ this group made certain that the advances of modern scientific knowledge would not elude Japan… More

Manuscript title-pages within decorative ruled borders. Each leaf of text ruled in red on rectos & versos. 4 p.l., 935, [5] pp.; 1 p.l., 953, [5] pp.; 1 p.l., 783 pp.; 1 p.l., 674 pp.; 1 p.l., 514 pp.; 259, [392] pp. Six vols. Small folio (312 x 202 mm.), cont. vellum over boards (minor binding wear, upper joint of Vol. III a little split), red morocco titling labels on spines, spines gilt. [Paris: 1759-67].

The long-lost autograph manuscript catalogue of the 10,000-volume library of Claude Pierre Goujet (1697-1767), French abbé, man of letters, controversialist, and prominent book collector. His library was formed over a 50-year period, and Peignot (p. 101) considered... More

54; 7 leaves (final blank). Folio (both ca. 300 x 210 mm.), orig. stitching. [Amiens]: 1649.

A rare survival on the market, two mid-17th-century inventories describing the estate of Agnès de Het, wife of a feudal lord, who was councillor to the king. They lived on the outskirts of Amiens. We have found a record of de Het’s husband, Lecouvreur, agreeing to rent land in 1688, but we are not able to find any record of de Het’s life. These two manuscripts provide an exhaustive listing of a 17th-century noble family’s numerous possessions.

The first document (54 leaves), signed on the final leaf by Lecouvreur, is a complete inventory of this family’s belongings. It lists not only household items, but also a variety of luxury items, such as a golden coffeepot, a necklace holding fourteen diamonds, a golden ring encrusted with a diamond, two pearl necklaces, a silver clock, etc. Also recorded are tables, tablecloths, napkins, a mirror, clothing, carpets, several chests, other furniture, etc. More

Many black & white illus. Ca. 320 unnumbered pages. Photocopied paper (280 x 215 mm.), mounted with a metal bracket in the orig. manila folder, title written in blue marker on upper cover & spine. [From title page & spine]: San Francisco: S. Leiber, 1994.

A famous Steven Leiber (1957-2012) catalogue, his 16th, describing more than 700 items; printed in an edition of about 100 copies. This catalogue is modeled after Harald Szeemann’s catalogue for the celebrated Live in Your Head: When Attitudes Become Form exhibition presented at the Kunstalle Bern in 1969. “Rose Holtz,” mentioned on the cover, is Leiber’s grandmother, whose basement hosted his premises... More

69; 52; 61; 54 folding leaves. Four vols. Oblong 8vo (140 x 210 mm.), orig. persimmon-stained wrappers (a little worn), new stitching. From the colophon: “1597” (but see below).

First edition of this rare movable type dictionary of renga poetry. This is the earliest Japanese movable type book we have yet encountered (the first book printed in Japan with movable type — using Korean technology — appeared in 1593). It is one of the first dictionaries of renga poetry, written by one of the great masters of the genre. This book is very rare; WorldCat lists only the Kyoto University copy. In 1967, Kawase (Vol. I, p.... More