Part 2: View by Topics 2. Activities of Dutch Studies

This is a Japanese translation by Nagasaki Dutch interpreter Yoshio Gonnosuke (1785-1831) of the excerpts from the Factory's journal. Excerpts were made by the chief of the Dutch Factory H. Doeff (1777-1835) of the portion of N. Coeckebacker's journal covering the Shimabara Rebellion (1636-1637). N. Coeckebacker was Dutch Factory chief in Hirado. During the Shimabara Rebellion, the Dutch factory at Hirado was requested by the Shogunate government to send a ship, which bombarded the Hara Castle held by the rebels from the sea, and thus contributed to suppressing the rebellion. There is a possibility that 'Tenba' is a compound word of 'Amakusa' and 'Arima'.

This is a Japanese adapted translation of Tweevoudigh onderwiis van de hemelsche en aerdsche globen (1666). Original Dutch book is a handbook explaining terrestrial and temporal globes, written by the Dutch mapmaker Willem Janszoon Blaeu, which was translated into Latin and published in 1633 under title Institutio astronomica de usu globorum et sphaerarum caelestium ac terrestrium), which in turn was translated into Dutch. Nagasaki interpreter Motoki Ryoei translated this Dutch book in 1774. This is one of the oldest works explaining the Copernican theory in Japan.

This is a book on glassmaking translated by Nagasaki interpreter Baba Sajuro (1787-1822) from selected Dutch sources by E. Buys and N. M. Chomel at the order of the Shogunate government. The manuscript was completed in 1810, but was not published. It was the most advanced publication on glassmaking during the Edo period.

This book is on the history of Russian czars, and was edited by Maeno Ryotaku. It is based on the Dutch book Oude en nieuwe staat van 't Russische of Moskovische keizerryk (Utrecht, 1744), but our copy that was belonged to Yoshio Kogyu is wanting the first half (see the next entry). This Roshia daito ryakki: Teiki hen is bound with the Roshia teio yori shina pekin teito eno chokushi dochu nikki, which is translated by Yoshio Kogyu.

This book, 'Old and new history of the Muscovite Empire of Russia', was the basis of Roshia daito ryakuki: Teiki hen edited by Maeno Ryotaku, and as shown by the note 'Koozack' (Kosaku) on the cover, it has been belonged to Yoshio Kogyu. However, our copy is wanting the first half, covering the period from ancient Russia to Peter the Great. The Hokkaido University Library has a complete set. Belonged to the Shogunate government.

This is a hanging picture that contains the two sheets of foreign animal pictures drawn by Maeno Ryotaku. Ryotaku was a person of note in Edo as a Dutch studies scholar and he was interested in zoology as well as medicine and was well versed in the Dutch language works on zoology. Belonged to the Ito Collection (Japanese).

This is a memoir by Sugita Genpaku about the pioneering days of Dutch studies including the difficulties of translating and publishing Kaitai Shinsho. He completed it in 1815. It was passed around as a manuscript book with such titles as Ranto kotohajime and Oranda kotohajime till the end of the Edo period. This book was published as a woodblock print by Fukuzawa Yukichi and Sugita Renkei, the grandson of Genpaku. Thereafter, it became commonly known as Rangaku kotohajime.

Koishi Taigu (1743-1809) went by the alias Genshun, with Taigu being a pen name. He was a physician who worked in Kyoto and Osaka and conducted a human dissection in 1783. He was friends with Genpaku and Gentaku, and this is a letter sent from Genpaku on April 13, 1787, while Koishi was staying in Edo. It discusses a request to Koishi for a house call. Belonged to the medical historian Fujikawa Yu.

Ichinoseki Domain physician Takebe Seian (1712-1782) wrote a letter of questions regarding Dutch medicine in 1770, and entrusted it to his pupil Kinudome Hoken. This letter was given to Sugita Genpaku of Edo in 1773 and Genpaku, who was interested in Seian's questions, wrote an answer, and thereafter the two corresponded about Dutch medicine. This book is a collection of two-way correspondence consisting of two letters of questions from Seian and two letters of answers from Genpaku. Seian's fifth son, Kin, became Genpaku's adopted son (Hakugen) and his third son Ryosaku, and pupil Otsuki Gentaku, also studied under Genpaku.

The book covers the six substances as sword of narwhale, saffron, nutmeg, mummies, agaric (larch polypore), and mermaid, which were major medicines of interest to Dutch studies scholars. This was researched based on descriptions from Dutch books. An illustration is included for each of the substances and the illustration of narwhale was made by J. Jonston and that of nutmeg by R. Dodoens. Belonged to the Shirai Collection (Japanese).

This is a letter from Otsuki Gentaku to Ema Shunrei (Genkyo, 1747-1838) who was a Dutch medicine physician to the Ogaki Domain. Ema learned Dutch studies from Sugita Genpaku and Maeno Ryotaku. The letter gives thanks for the assistance received after the fire at the end of 1796, states that Genpaku is busy as usual, states that Ryotaku is in good health, and describes the activities of the Dutch studies scholars.

This is a collection of notes by pupils of the answers that Otsuki Gentaku gave to the questions from pupils and acquaintances, describing Western medications, products, etc. This was originally diffused as manuscripts, but there was strong demand for it to be published, so this 1st pt. was published in 1817. It describes the 19 items including aloe, etc., and is written in kanbun (classical Chinese). This book includes the contents of following parts, but they were not published.Belonged to the Shirai Collection (Japanese).

From 1793-1810, Udagawa Genzui published Seisetsu naika senyo (total of 18 volumes), which was the first translation in Japan of Western internal medicine, but the original work in Dutch, Gezuiverde geneeskons (Amsterdam, 1744), was written by Johannes de Gorter. For this book Genzui transcribed the chapters 1-3 "hoofdstuk" in the original work, and translated parts of this into Japanese.This notebook corresponds to the volumes 1 and 2 of published Seisetsu naika senyo. In 1822, Udagawa Genshin and colleagues published Zoho jutei Naika senyo. On the flyleaf is mounted an annotation by Udagawa Kosai (third son of Iinuma Yokusai, adopted by Udagawa Yoan, 1821-1887).

This is an auxiliary illustration for Seisetsu ihan teiko shakugi (1805) that is the notes of the lectures of Udagawa Genshin, recorded by pupil Suwa Shun (Fujii Hotei). This was the first anatomical charts produced using copper plate etching.

This is a partial translation covering barometers and thermometers from De natuurkunde uit ondervindingen opgemaakt (1736-51) written by J. T. Desaguliers and published by Amsterdam publisher Isaak Tirion.J. T. Desaguliers (1683-1744) was an English scientist. Belonged to Frank Hawley.

The first edition was published in 1834. It is an introduction to botany written in kanbun (classical Chinese). It describes Linnaean taxonomy using 24 classes to classify plants by their roots and foliage and even covers such subjects as physiology and biochemistry. The illustrations from various Dutch books were used. It accompanies Shokugaku keigen zu with 21 color woodblock prints. Belonged to the Daigaku Nanko, the Education Ministry, and the Education Museum.

This is an introduction to chemistry. 'Seimi' is the pronunciation of chemie, the Dutch word for chemistry. J. B. Trommsdorff made a German translation and enlargement of the work Elements of experimental chemistry (1799) by William Henry, which was translated into Dutch and enlarged by A. Ijpeij.The Japanese translation was made from this Dutch book. The work was produced by referencing not only of Ijpeij's Dutch edition, but also Dutch translations of the works of A. L. Lavoisier to systematically introduce Western chemistry. Belonged to the Shirai Collection (Japanese).

This work establishes a species, name, shape, investigation, etc. for plants, such flowering cherries, based on Western botany and explains them. This includes a relatively well compiled collection of entries and notes. Belonged to the Ito Collection (Japanese).

This is a Romanized business card printed showing 'W. JOOAN'. According to the note on the wrapping paper, this card was in the portfolio which Ito Keisuke took when he met Siebold at Deshima. They were found between the pages of a copy of Seishoku zensho (see previous entry).

In 1807, the Shogunate government ordered Takahashi Kageyasu of Tenmonkata to create a map, so Kageyasu created Shinsen sokai zenzu to try copper plate etching as a trial publication for the Shintei bankoku zenzu (next entry). The copper plate etching were made by Aodo Denzen. There is a postscript by Otsuki Gentaku. What is called the Western hemisphere by the West is placed on the right side and is called the Eastern Hemisphere, and has the same structure as the handwritten Shintei bankoku zenzu. Nihon henkai ryakuzu provides more details to supplement the areas around Japan that are simplified in Shinsen sokai zenzu. At the time, the Sakhalin exploration by Mamiya Rinzo had not yet been completed, so the eastern half of the northern half of Sakhalin is shown with a dotted line. The latter map was included in P. F. von Siebold's Nippon.

There is a preliminary hand-drawn map in the Cabinet Library, that was completed by Takahashi Kageyasu of Tenmonkata. He began the work on the 1807 order of the Shogunate government with the assistance of astronomer Hazama Shigetomi and Dutch interpreter Baba Sajuro (who had been summoned to Edo from Nagasaki in 1808). It was submitted to the government in 1810. Thereafter, the East Asia region was further revised and this map was etched by Aodo Denzen in 1816. It does not state the year of publication, but the timing has been confirmed by other sources including Ranyaku teiko by Otsuki Gentaku (completed in 1816). It utilizes the information from the so-called Mamiya Straight Crossing Exploration (1809) conducted by Mamiya Rinzo. As with the Shinsen sokai zenzu, what is called the Western hemisphere by the West is placed on the right side and is called the Eastern Hemisphere, and sub hemisphere maps, one of which Kyoto is in the center, are added on the four corners. These features make this map a distinctively Japanese creation. Originally it was printed in 16 parts and pasted into 1 sheet, but our copy was divided into two sections.

This book tells about the experiences of Russian naval officer V. M. Golovnin (1776-1831) while he was incarcerated in Japan. V. M. Golovnin and his party were captured in 1811 while surveying the Etorofu and Kunashiri islands, and they were incarcerated for two years and two months in Hakodate, then Matsumae. In 1813, Baba Sajuro and Adachi Sanai were dispatched to learn Russian from them. The original work was written by V. M. Golovnin after he returned to Russia, and was published in in Russian in 1816. It was translated into German the next year, and then the German version was translated into Dutch. The Dutch version was brought to Edo in 1821 by the chief of the Dutch factory, and Baba Sajuro began translating it the next year. Baba died of an illness soon thereafter, but Takahashi Kageyasu had Sugita Ryukei and Aochi Rinso continue the translation which, when completed, was presented to the Shogunate government after all the volumes had been edited.

In 1797, Takahashi Yoshitoki reformed the calendar, modeling after the Rekisho kosei kohen that was a Chinese translation of Western calendar science, and called this new calendar Kansei-reki. But he could not write the principle of the calendar Thereafter, Takahashi Yoshitoki and Kageyasu continued working on this, but did not complete it. In 1839, the Shogunate government ordered Shibukawa Kagesuke to edit it. This book was completed in 1844 and delivered to the Shogunate government. The other major editors on the project in addition to Kagesuke were Yamaji Kaiko, Adachi Nobuakira and Yoshida Hideshige of Tenmonkata. Illustrations of observation instruments were included in volumes 22 to 25.

This is a guide of the places of scenic and historical interest throughout Europe. This is a Japanese translation of the Dutch version Merkwaardigheden uit elkland van Europa (Amsterdam, 1827), translation made by Johannes Olivier from Scenes of Europe written by Issac Taylor.

This work was translated after 1845. It spans six sections with each section covering several people's biography. People covered include Napoleon, Peter I, Katharine I, G. Washington, J. Cook, and P. J. von Ruyter. This is a summary translation from Dutch books and Dutch sources.

This is a Japanese translation of the work by J. L. C. Pompe van Meerdervoort (1829-1908) describing smallpox and cowpox vaccinations. The original, Korte beschouwing der pokziekte en hare wijzigingen ..., was published in Deshima in 1858, and the first page is the translation of that title page. Apparently it was thought that the work would be published and spread around Japan. The autograph ends with "Deshima, February 20, 1857," which might be the date the translation was finished.