24; 46 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo, orig. blue wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, & Edo: Kawachiya Kihei et al., 1848.

Second edition (1st ed.: 1770); both editions are very rare. This book, in Chinese with Japanese reading marks, is the commentary by Asai (1706-80), the famous painter of bamboo and court physician of the Owari fiefdom, on the biography of Bian Que (active sometime in 5th-3rd centuries B.C.), the founding father of scientific Chinese medicine. This biography first appeared in Shiji [Records of the Grand Historian], written by Sima Qian. The... More

Numerous woodcut illus. 13 juan in 16 vols. 8vo, bamboo paper (some loss of text in Preface), new wrappers, new stitching. [China]: Hao ran lou 浩然樓, [1717] (date of Preface).

Second edition of an extensive work on sores and ulcers. The first edition was reportedly privately published in 1569, but we find no copy in WorldCat.

The book is wide-ranging in its coverage and contains many illustrations. In juan 1, we are shown symptoms of the mouth, tongue, teeth, and throat. Throughout, the descriptions of symptoms are followed by lists of prescriptions. In juan 4, we find an... More

Twelve full-page woodcuts & numerous woodcuts in the text. 36 folding leaves. Two parts in one vol. 8vo, orig. blue wrappers (wrappers rubbed & somewhat wormed), orig. block-printed title label on upper cover no longer present, modern stitching. “Ichijo-dori” [a street in Kyoto]: Tomikura Tahei, 1690.

First edition of this early and rare book providing prescriptions for treatments in the different stages of tuberculosis. The author describes ten drugs made from vegetables that give miraculous results in treating the disease. The second part, entitled “Mujo Gengen santen shinden gyokudo shoshi chiden shirochu soho,” describes the parasitic worms said to grow... More

75; 64 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo (275 x 180 mm.), orig. pale blue wrappers (label on upper covers rather corroded but legible), new stitching. [Japan]: Preface dated March 1755.

A rare commentary by the Japanese Aizu(?) fiefdom doctor Setsuo Kagayama on Wan jin yi tong by Tingxian Gong (1522-1619), physician of the Imperial Medical Academy in Beijing. The Wan jin yi tong is part of a larger work, the Wanbing Huichun of 1585 [Restoration of Health from Myriad Diseases], the author’s most famous work, which had pharmaceutical recipes from about 240 different ingredients.

Gong came from a prominent family... More

Several woodcut illus. in the text. 25 vols. Folio (346 x 230 mm.), orig. wrappers (rubbed & several with some wear, three vols. with some staining, occasional minor foxing), orig. stitching. [Hansŏng]: [colophon in Vol. 2 dated 1634].

Second edition (1st ed.: 1613) of a very great rarity, “the greatest of all Korean medical treatises, [which] devotes its last chapters to acupuncture and moxibustion.”–Lu & Needham, Celestial Lancets, p. 263n. It is considered to have one of the finest classification systems in traditional East Asian medicine.

Hŏ Chun (1539/46-1615), was a court physician of the Yangcheon Hŏ clan during the... More

Atlas vol.: Woodcut title-page, 33 delicately hand-colored plates (one folding), one page of text. Third vol. of text with 4 double-page & 24 full-page woodcuts. Text vols.: Title-page & 60; 49; 59.5 folding leaves. Three vols. of text & one vol. of atlas. 8vo, orig. patterned blue semi-stiff wrappers, block-printed title labels on upper covers (labels rather rubbed), new stitching. Osaka, Kyoto, & Edo: Kawachiya kashichi et al., December 1810.

First edition, complete with the rare atlas. “The most important Japanese orthopedic work was published in 1810 by Bunken Kagami (1755-1819) with the title Seikotsu shinsho. Based on Chinese medical... More

Six vols. 8v0, later wrappers, new stitching. Kunshan: Suifu tang 綏福堂, 1755.

Probably the first edition of the commentary by Ke Qin (fl. 17c.–18c., aliases Yunbo 韻伯, Sifeng 似峰) on the Treatise on Cold Damage of the third-century Chinese physician, Zhang Zhongjing 張仲景. “Ke [was] acknowledged as one of the most sagacious readers of the Treatise of all times…Ke’s three-volume exegesis of the Treatise was re-printed over thirty times in the subsequent two hundred and fifty years, attesting to its status and enduring influence on writers and physicians throughout China and East Asia.”–Volker Scheid, “Transmitting Chinese Medicine,” Asian Medicine 8.2... More

Numerous black & gray ink woodcut illus. 52 folding leaves. Large 8vo, orig. semi-stiff wrappers (a little tired), new stitching. [Japan]: Shijudō 資壽堂, 1838.

First edition of this rare book by a prominent naturalist-scholar, edited by his grandson. Our book can be seen as reflecting two trends in the intellectual life of late-Tokugawa Japan. The first is the flourishing of honzōgaku 本草學, or “natural studies.” The second is the emergence of kokugaku 國學, or “national learning.” Natural studies developed out of the study of Chinese texts of materia medica, known as texts on “roots and grasses,” or bencao... More

Forty parts in 12 vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, new stitching. At the beginning of each part: Cixi: Prefaces dates 1776 & 1788.

A valuable and influential dictionary of synonyms and antonyms in the Chinese language. Li 厲, a native of Cixi, served as a magistrate in Wangjiang County. Originally published in 39 parts, this edition has the valuable supplement — the 40th part — by Huai Guan, painter and librarian, who lived in Hangzhou, near Cixi.

This is an encyclopedic work, encompassing synonyms and antonyms in all disciplines, including science, politics, history, gastronomy, costumes, technology, books and bibliography... More

Numerous woodcut illus. in the text. 12 vols. 8vo, orig. semi-stiff wrappers (wrappers a little soiled), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. Kyoto, Edo, Osaka & Nagoya: various publishers, 1850.

First edition and a complete set of this finely illustrated book, the most comprehensive work on obstetrics published in Japan before the arrival of Admiral Perry and Western influences. “In 1850 Sansetsu or Gihaku Mizuhara (1782-1864), whose real given name was Yoshihiro, published his definitive work on obstetrics entitled San’iku zensho (sometimes referred to as Jyunsei-an san’iku zensho) in 11 volumes [actually 12 volumes], divided... More

37 fine woodcuts (some are single-page, others double-page, & one is a text illus.), of which most are black & white, but 11 are printed in complex color & eight are delicately highlighted with gray tints. 33; 33; 32; 34; 35; 35 folding leaves. Six vols. 8vo, orig. decorated wrappers (wrappers slightly soiled), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. Wakayama [& for Vols. IV-VI: Wakayama, Kyoto, Edo, & Osaka]: Ohiya Ihei et al., [Vols. I-III], Prefaces dated 1833 & 1850.

First edition, and a complete set in six volumes, of this beautifully illustrated natural history work; the... More

1 p.l., 7 pre-printed folding leaves. 8vo (235 x 158 mm.), orig. semi-stiff aubergine wrappers, new stitching. [Japan]: Preface dated 1810; this is a copy made later in the Edo period.

The final work by Ranzan Ono (1729-1810), who was considered the “Linnaeus of Japan.” He started a school of botanical pharmacology in Kyoto, which, over the years, graduated more than 1000 students. During his long life, Ono travelled throughout Japan, gathering plant specimens and recording botanical remedies. He was familiar with both Chinese and Western texts on herbal medicines. Ono’s Honzo komoku keimo [Dictated Compendium of Materia Medica Enlightenment... More