HIROKAWA (Kai).
Nagasaki bunken-roku. [Heard and seen in Nagasaki].
With the original envelope
A rare and important account of Nagasaki, preserved with the original publisher’s envelope.
Across the five volumes, we are given an account of Nagasaki by the Imperial surgeon Hirokawa Kai (dates unknown) collected during his stay. Hirokawa was an important rangaku (‘Dutch learning’) scholar from Kyoto and a physician who attended to the Imperial household. He visited Nagasaki twice in 1790 and 1795 staying for several years at a time. There he studied medicine under Yoshio Kosaku (1724-1800), another famous rangaku scholar and physician who chose to live in a Dutch-style. Hirokawa wrote several books about Dutch medicine (‘Ranryo-ho’ 1804 & ‘Ranryo yakkai’ 1806) and famously he is the first Japanese person to mention chocolate for medicinal purposes. Charles Boxer described this work as “one of the principal sources of information about Deshima and its occupants”. (Boxer: Jan Compagnie in Japan. p. 132). The illustrations show scenes from daily life, festivals (dragonboat race), plants and animals, as well as Chinese and Dutch ships. Also included is an illustration of a kaijo (female of the sea/mermaid).
What is particularly special about this set is the envelope that has been pasted into the chitsu folding case. Multi-volume set of this time were often wrapped in a printed paper sleeve, which were commonly discarded as one might discard a carrier bag now. It is therefore extremely unusual to see the design of the packaging for Edo-period books, which in some cases were quite decorative. With the present set, quite a bit of influence has been taken from the Dutch; we see the Dutch East India Company mark (‘VOC’) as well as a pattern of roman letters. There is also a depiction of a kaijo. The title and publisher are printed in the main body, and across the top the text reads ‘Written by Professor Hirokawa,’ clearly promoting his new work.
Kraft 4; Not in Kerlen; Oka/Kodama 3032; Chibett 148.
