Banned

KŌ, Ryōsai 高良斎.

Kubai yōhō 駆梅要方 [Treatment of Syphilis].

Two fine full-page woodcuts. 18.5; 23; 32 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. pale green semi-stiff wrappers, title-slip on upper covers (cover of Vol. I slightly soiled), new stitching. Osaka: Privately Printed for Chōzen dō School, Preface & Afterword dated 1837.

First edition and very rare; we find no copy outside of Japan. Kō (1799-1846) studied Dutch medicine in Nagasaki and was one of von Siebold’s most prominent students. Because of his association with von Siebold, Kō was imprisoned for six months in 1828 and forbidden to practice in Nagasaki. Primarily an ophthalmologist, he also wrote on botany and translated many Dutch medical works into Japanese. Kō founded a rangaku (Dutch studies) medical school in Osaka called Chōzen dō 超然堂, and the present work was published by the school.

The book was intended only for the medical school’s students and graduates. Kubai yōhō was banned by the Osaka government four years after its publication due to fears that its wide circulation amongst the general population might cause “interested” readers to experiment and poison themselves with mercury.

Mestler (Part III, p. 138) writes that this is one of a group of “Japanese works on syphilis which are also known to have been based upon European books that had found their way into Japan during the Edo period (although neither the authors nor the titles of the original European works are known).” We have been unable to determine the author, but NIJL gives the author’s name phonetically as “Jisenchi Hendori.”

The attractive woodcuts depict Western medical instruments.

Fine set. Minor worming in the gutter towards the end of Vol. III.

Price: $4,950.00

Item ID: 10974