Ten fine brush & ink drawings in the text. 8.5; 13; 2 folding leaves. Three parts in one vol. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. stitching. [Japan]: from final leaf (in trans.): “Spring 1792“; this is a later copy, probably early Meiji.

Sato (1762-1848), a leading honzo scholar and writer on agricultural matters, advised a number of fiefdoms throughout Japan on modern agricultural techniques.

This is a collection of unpublished texts on the cultivation and processing of ginseng. The first part concerns with the various kinds of ginseng (Chinese, Korean, and Japanese), their various names and qualities, where grown, medicinal benefits, how... More

Title printed in red & black. 16, 450 pp.; 66 (i.e. 74) pp. Two parts in one vol. Large thick 4to, cont. vellum over boards. The Hague: J. Neaulme, 1740.

First edition of this important early botanical bibliography. Divided into three sections, the first deals with floras, the second medical botany, and the third horticultural and agricultural works.

“The bibliography includes not only books and other independent bibliographical productions, but also references to publications in the periodical literature…

“The entries for the publications contain usually the title fully transcribed and in the original language, the place of publication, the publisher... More

33 small woodcuts in the text. Single line borders at top & bottom of each page; double-line borders on each side of page. Ten columns; 19 characters per column. All columns of text divided by lines. 52 folding leaves. Three parts in one vol. (with consecutive pagination). Large 8vo (282 x 200 mm.), orig. wrappers stained dark brown with fermented persimmon juice (wrappers rubbed & tired), new stitching. [Japan]: a gozan-ban of the late Muromachi era (16th century).

The third-earliest medical book to be printed in Japan. This is an extremely rare, late Muromachi-era edition (a gozan-ban, with no copy... More

Three woodcut illus. in the text (one full-page). viii, 88 pp. (lacking half-title). 8vo, modern morocco by Middleton (small wormholes in upper margin of first few leaves), spine gilt. London: J. Churchill, 1847.

First edition of a great rarity. Published in October 1847, this was the second treatise on ether anesthesia, and Snow’s first book on the subject. It contains the first illustrated account of Snow’s regulating inhaler, the first to control the amount of ether vapour received by the patient. Snow had published some preliminary comments in the London Medical Gazette, following which he modified the inhaler, and included... 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... More

33 fine brush & ink illus. 33 leaves. 8vo (242 x 164 mm.), later semi-stiff orange-brown wrappers, new stitching. [Japan]: from the final leaf (in trans.): “mid-October 1842. Ushigome juku [a study group], [possessed or copied by] Tsutsui.”

A manuscript copy of the first book to describe the agricultural experiments leading to the successful cultivation of Korean ginseng in Japan. Tamura Ransui (1718-76), official physician to the shogunate, “first succeeded in growing ginseng plants in Japan.”–Federico Marcon, The Knowledge of Nature and the Nature of Knowledge in Early Modern Japan, p. 212. The importation (actually, smuggling) of live seedlings from... More

Two added engraved titles, 97 plates (many folding), and 287 engraved illus. & several woodcuts in the text. 14 p.l. (incl. added engraved title), 520, [4], 76, 119, [12] pp.; 12 p.l. (incl. added engraved title), 196, 116 pp.; 4 p.l., 228, [11] pp. Three vols. in two. Folio, cont. mottled calf (extremities a bit rubbed & worn), sides ruled in gilt, spines nicely gilt, black & red morocco lettering pieces on spines. Frankfurt am Main: J.D. Zunner, 1714-14-14.

First complete edition, comprising the second issue of Vol. I (1st: 1704) and first editions of Vols. II and III, printed... More

30; 32; 38; 40 folding leaves. Four vols. Large 8vo, orig. dark green patterned wrappers (some worming touching but not obscuring text), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. Kyoto: Fushimiya Toemon, colophon dated “1683.”

First edition to be published in Japan of this important encyclopedic work, printed in Chinese with Japanese reading marks. One of the first encyclopedias compiled in China, it was written by Hua Zhang (232-300), statesman, book collector, scholar, writer, and protoscientist, who also wrote, with Xu Xun, the famous catalogue of the imperial library known as Zhongjing bu [Catalogue of the Palace Texts]... More