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Asia / Japan & Far East

A classic work on Japan, with numerous chromolithographed illustrations

ALCOCK, Sir Rutherford. The capital of the tycoon: a narrative of a three years' residence in Japan.
London, Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green (colophons: printed by Spottiswoode & Co.), 1863 [reissued with publisher's advertisements dated April 1875]. 2 volumes. 8vo. With 2 chromolithographed frontispieces, 2 folding engraved maps (partly coloured), 14 tinted, double-tinted and chromolithographed plates (at least one highlighted with silver colour) drawn mostly by Charles Wirgman (1832-1891) and lithographed by Hanhart, 2 black & white wood-engraved plates (engraved by Pearson) and numerous wood-engraved illustrations in text (some signed by Pearson). Original publisher's gold- and blind-blocked green cloth. XXXII, 469, [2]; X, 539 pp. Full description
€ 1,250
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Highly detailed wall map of Asia and the Arabian peninsula, from the collection of the Governor of Ceylon

ARROWSMITH, Aaron. Asia.
London, Aaron Arrowsmith, 1 January 1801. Engraved wall map, hand coloured in outline, on 4 sheets joined as 2 (measuring 124 x 147 cm in total) on a scale of ca. 1:6,490,880, with an elaborately decorated cartouche at the head left, a dedication below ("To major James Rennell, Esqr. F.R.S. &c. &c.") and the name of the engraver at the foot right (George Allen). Mounted on cloth and divided into 32 sections. Contemporary slipcase, covered with marbled paper and a manuscript title-label on front. Full description
€ 7,500
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First Dutch guide to pediatrics (dedication in 1st state), with an appendix on Japanese and Borneo camphor

BLANKAART, Steven. Verhandelinge van de opvoedinge en ziekten der kinderen. Vertoonende op wat wyse de kinderen gezond konnen blyven, en ziek zijnde, bequamelyk konnen herstelt werden. Zeer nodig voor alle huyshoudende lieden.
Amsterdam, Hieronymus Sweerts, 1684. 8vo. With an engraved title-page showing a hospital scene and 19 figures on 6 engraved plates. Near contemporary vellum. [8], 332, [20] pp. Full description
€ 8,500
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Fishes from Japan

BLEEKER, Pieter. Enumération des espèces de poissons actuellement connues du japon et description de trois espèces inédites. [Published as nat. verh. der kon. akad. v. wet., part XVIII].
Amsterdam, C.G. v.d. Post, 1879. 4to. With 3 lithographed plates. Original publisher's stiff printed wrappers. [1], 33 pp. Full description
€ 450
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The important letters from Japan, 1625-1627 in the first and only edition in French

BONELLI, Jean-Baptist & Jean VIREAU (ed. & translator). Histoire de ce qui s'est passé au royaume du Japon, es annees 1625. 1626. & 1627.
Paris, Sebastian Cramoisy, 1633. 8vo. With woodcut printer's device of Cramoisy on the title, several woodcut headpieces. Beautiful 19th-century green morocco, spine richly gilt in compartments, with title lettered in gold, triple gilt lines along the edges of both covers, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, gilt edges. [7] 1 blank, 465 (=485) pp. Full description
€ 17,500
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Two accounts of Dutch voyages to Chile and Japan

BROUWER, Hendrik. Journael ende historis verhael van de reyse gedaen by oosten de Straet Le Maire, naer de custen van Chili ... inden jare 1643 voor gevallen.
Including: [VRIES, Maerten Gerritsz.]. Als mede een beschryvinghe van het eylandt Eso, ghelegen ontrent dertigh mylen van het machtigh Rijcke van Japan ... soo als eerst in 't selvige jaer door het schip Castricum bezeylt is.
Amsterdam, Broer Jansz., 1646. 4to. With 2 folding engraved maps and a folding engraved plate. Modern wrappers, in cloth clamshell box. 104 pp. Full description
€ 28,000
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Early 19th century edition of a woodcut plan imaging Nagasaki and Deshima

[MAP] BUNKINDO HAN. Hishu Nagasaki (no) zu (plan of Nagasaki, Hizen province).
(Nagasaki, Bunkindo, 1821). 615 x 870 mm. Large folding woodcut map of the port and city of Nagasaki, printed in three colours (ochre, blue and green) on four sheets. In Japanese ochre paper etui decorated with blue and white flowers and title label with Japanese characters pasted on, preserved in later dark blue cloth slipcase in Japanese style closing with two ivory clasps. Full description
€ 2,950
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Dutch corvette attacked by daimyo opposed to foreigners in Japan. First edition with 5 tinted maps

CASEMBROOT, François de. De Medusa in de wateren van Japan, in 1863 en 1864.
The Hague, Van Cleef brothers, 1865. 8vo. With wood-engraved device on title-page and 5 tinted lithographed folding maps. Modern half sheepskin, with the original publisher's wrappers (with Dutch flag on front and back, coloured by hand) bound in. XII, [2], 150 pp. Full description
€ 3,750
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First edition of a rare work about the Orient and the crusades

CENTENO, Amaro. Historia de cosas del oriente primera y segunda parte...
Cordoba, Diego Galván, 1595. 2 parts in 1 volume. 4to. With a woodcut coat of arms on the title-page and the divisional title-page for part 2, an elaborate Jesuit woodcut IHS vignette on the verso of the last leaf above the colophon and woodcut initials throughout, with a few typographical or woodcut tail-pieces, al text is set within a simple woodcut frame. Later tree marbled sheepskin. [8], 138, [4] ll. Full description
€ 28,000
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Best edition of a notable history of Japan, with 56 engraved plates

CHARLEVOIX, Pierre François Xavier de. Histoire du Japon; ... Nouvelle édition.
Paris, Rollin (colophon vol. 6: printed by dHours fils), 1754. 6 volumes. 12mo. With 56 engraved plates (including 28 folding maps, plans and other illustrations and 28 single-page botanical plates). Contemporary mottled calf, gold tooled spines. [4], XXIV, 417, [1], [2 blank]; [4], LXXXV, [3], 429, [1]; [4], “558” [=528], [1], [1 blank]; [4], 534, [1], [1 blank]; [4], 479, [1]; [4], 386, [6] pp. Full description
€ 4,950
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The Jesuits in Japan

CRASSET, Jean. Außführliche Geschicht der in den äussersten Welt-Theil gelegenen japonesischen Kirch, ...
Augsburg, Franz Anton Ilger (printed by Anton Maximilian Heiss), 1738. 2 parts in 1 volume. Folio. With title-page printed in red and black, and 9 etched plates by Joseph Anton Zimmermann; woodcut head- and tailpieces. Contemporary blind-tooled pigskin over wooden boards. [24], 534; “559” [= 555], [1 blank]. Full description
€ 3,950
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Only Portuguese edition of Crasset's history of the Jesuits in Japan, the only edition with a map of Japan

CRASSET, Jean and Maria Antonia de Saõ Boaventura MENEZES (translator). Historia da Igreja do Japaõ, . . .
Lisbon, Manoel da Sylva (vols. 1-2), Manoel Soares (vol. 3), 1749-1751. 3 volumes. 4to. With 5 folding engraved plates, 1 folding engraved map of Japan (28×42 cm) and 1 engraved illustration in the text. Contemporary tanned sheepkin, gold-tooled spines. Full description
€ 9,000
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The deterioration and restoration of Russo-Japanese relations 1811-1813

GOLOVNIN, Vasilii Mikhailovich. Memoirs of a captivity in Japan, during the years 1811, 1812, and 1813; with observations on the country and the people ... second edition.
Including:
-RIKORD, Petr Ivanovich. Account of voyages to the coasts of Japan; and of negotiations with the Japanese, for the release of Captain Golownin and his companions.
-Account of the voyages of Messrs. Chwostoff & Dawidoff.
London, Henry Colburn & Co., 1824. 3 volumes. 8vo. With an additional facsimile map, copied from the French edition of 1818, inserted in volume 2. Modern red cloth. IV, 315, [1 blank]; [2], 356, [2]; VIII, LXXXIX, [1 blank], 302 pp. Full description
€ 1,500
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Rare account of the efforts of Jesuit missionaries in India (Goa, Cambay, Malabar Coast, Kochi, Madurai, etc.), South East Asia, the East Indies and Africa

[GUERREIRO, Fernão (ed.)]. and Christobal SUÁREZ DE FIGUEROA (transl.). Historia y anal relacion de las cosas que hizieron los padres de la Compañia de Jesus, por las partes de Oriente y otras, en la propagacion del Santo Evangelio, los años passados de 607. y en 608.
Madrid, Imprenta Real, sold by Juan Hasrey, 1614 (colophon 1613). 4to. With a woodcut IHS Jesuit device in a decorated cartouche on the title-page, the whole in a border built up from typographic ornaments and acorns; the large woodcut coat of arms of the dedicatee, Don Geronimo Corella y Mendoza; a large woodcut scrollwork tailpiece; 6 woodcut decorated initials (6 series); and headpieces built up from arabesque typographic ornaments. Set in roman types with extensive italic, some cut by François Guyot in Antwerp. 20th-century sheepskin parchment over flexible boards, turned in at the fore-edge, sewn on 3 alum-tawed thongs laced through the joints, with the title in thin textura lettering down the spine. [16], 566, [1], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 9,000
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New medical application for catechu, or terra Japonica

HAGENDORN, Ehrenfried. Tractatus physico-medicus de catechu, sive terra Japonica, in vulgus dicta ad normam Academiae Naturae-Curiosorum.
Jena, Johannus Bielk, (printed by Samuel Krebs), 1679. 8vo. Engraved frontispiece depicting a Japanese man holding a shield with the inscription: "E.H.D. Catechu" designed by C. Nisius. Contemporary boards, wholly untrimmed. [22], 82 pp. Full description
€ 6,000
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Massive navigational directory for the East

HORSBURGH, James. The India directory, or, directions for sailing to and from the East Indies, China, New Holland, Cape of Good Hope, Brazil, and the interjacent ports ... third edition.
London, printed for the author and sold by Kingsbury, Parbury and Allen, booksellers to the East India Company (back of title-page: printed by Plummer & Brewis), 1826-1827. 2 volumes. 4to. Contemporary half calf, rebacked with the original backstrips laid down. [8], XXVI, 503, [1], 16; [8], 642, [1], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 15,000
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Massive navigational directory, with sections on the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea and the Gulf

HORSBURGH, James, Gerrit KUIJPER and D. BOES LUTJENS. Zeemans-gids, naar, in en uit Oost-Indiën, China, Japan, Australiën, de Kaap de Goede Hoop, Braziliën en tusschenliggende havens, volgens de vierde Engelsche uitgave van James Horsburgh, ...
Amsterdam, C.F. Stemler, (back of half-title: printed in Haarlem by H. Bakels), 1841. 4to. Contemporary half calf, spine lettered in gold, marbled sides. I-XII, [2], XIII-XXIV, XXVIII, 1376 pp. Full description
€ 3,750
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A Dutch commander's Japanese diary with a large lithographed map

HUYSSEN VAN KATTENDYKE, Willem Johan Cornelis. Uittreksel uit het dagboek van W.J.C. Ridder Huyssen van Kattendyke, Kapitein-Luit. ter zee, gedurende zijn verblijf in Japan in 1857, 1858 en 1859.
The Hague, W.P. van Stockum (printed by Giunta d'Albani), 1860. 8vo. With large folding lithographed map (67 x 54.5 cm) depicting the west coast of Japan and Kiusiu, by E. Spanier after H.O. Wichers. Original publisher's printed stiff paper wrappers. [2 blank], [10], 236 pp. Full description
€ 5,500
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A Dutch commander's Japanese diary with a large lithographed map

HUYSSEN VAN KATTENDYKE, Willem Johan Cornelis. Uittreksel uit het dagboek van W.J.C. Ridder Huyssen van Kattendyke, Kapitein-Luit. ter zee, gedurende zijn verblijf in Japan in 1857, 1858 en 1859.
The Hague, W.P. van Stockum (printed by Giunta d'Albani), 1860. 8vo. With large folding lithographed map (67 x 54.5 cm) depicting the west coast of Japan and Kiusiu, by E. Spanier after H.O. Wichers. Contemporary gold-tooled red sheepskin (morocco), gilt edges, silk-watered endpapers. [2 blank], [10], 236 pp. Full description
€ 4,000
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Critical survey of Dutch mercantile activities in Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka

[INDONESIA - INDIA - SRI LANKA]. Nederlandsch India, in haaren tegenwoordigen toestand beschouwd; of waar en gronding berigt van haare regeering, derzelver bestier en handelingen; haare bezittingen; haare militie; haar kwijnenden handel, zeevaart, enz.
Batavia [= Amsterdam?], [1780?]. 8vo. With a decoration on the title-page, headpiece and factotum all built up from rococo typographic ornaments. Contemporary marbled paper wrappers. 80 pp. Full description
€ 2,950
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Sights of Nagasaki, including Japanese views of the Dutch: the famed arts of Edo find a new market

ISONO BUNSAI (BUNSAI MADAKI). Nagasaki miyage [= Souvenir of Nagasaki].
Nagasaki, Yamato-ya Yoshihei juo, Koka 4 [= 1847]. 23 x 15.5 cm. Text and illustrations printed from 42 woodblocks, probably on kozo (mulberry bark) paper (vertical chainlines about 34 mm apart), with an astrological figure and constellation on the title-page (the Mao Xiu lunar mansion?), 12 double-page and 6 full-page illustrations (a few with Dutch titles as well as Japanese) including a map of Nagasaki harbour (showing the Dutch and Chinese trading factories and three ships), two Chinese merchants at a table in the factory library while their servant unpacks a chest of books, a bedroom with a VOC captain(?) and merchant(?), the latter with his pocket watch and Indonesian servant, a cluster of Japanese ships making a dense forest of masts, a landscape with dozens of kites, another with many people on a bridge over a river, a Dutch VOC ship in great detail, a VOC merchant at dinner with an Indonesian servant and two Japanese geishas, a Dutch woman, an elephant, festivals (one with a dragon and drums), and other landscapes, city views, etc. The texts show a wide variety of writing styles (kaisho, gysho and sosho) with the blocks for many texts (and one illustration) including seals of authors or artists, mostly in tensho (seal characters). Original publishers blue paper wrappers in the traditional Japanese fukurotoji manner, publishers manuscript title-label on front wrapper. [1], 40, [1] double ll. Full description
€ 3,250
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Lovely rare Japanese sale catalogue of lilies with 40 chromolithographs plus another on the front wrapper

[FLOWER PLATES - JAPANESE NURSERY CATALOGUE]. The Yokohama Nursery Co. (Yokohama Ueki Kabushiki Kaisha). Lilies of Japan.
Yokohama, Japan, The Yokohama Nursery Company, November 1907. 4to (26 x 18.5 cm). With XXXX numbered magnificent chromolithographed plates of lilies. Chromolithographed wrappers with an arrangement of lilies and the title "Lilies of Japan" on the front, side-stitched in Japanese manner with black yarn through 2 pair of holes. [3], XXXX [=40], [1] pp. Full description
€ 3,750
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24 Japanese colour drawings of lilies, with their romanized Japanese names, and prices of the bulbs

[NURSERY CATALOGUE - JAPAN]. Yuri hana shashin [= Drawings of lily flowers, from life].
[Yokohama?, ca. 1875?]. Very large 4to (39.5 x 27.5 cm). 24 Japanese flower drawings in black and grey ink with watercolour and gouaches, on Japanese (kozo/paper mulberry?) paper, with the romanized Japanese name, and the price of the bulbs (in francs and centimes) and sometimes colours or other information in French. Contemporary brown Japanese paste-paper wrappers with a bird and flower motif, stab-sewn at the head. [24] ll. Full description
€ 4,950
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Japanese plants depicted for the first time in the West

KAEMPFER, Engelbert (Sir Joseph BANKS, ed.). Icones selectæ plantarum, quas in Japonia collegit et delineavit.
London, [Library of the British Museum], 1791. Folio (42 x 26.5 cm.). With 59 etched plates, (8 are double-page), by Daniel Mackenzie. Slightly later half calf, marbled sides, gold-tooled monogram AL on spine. [4], 3, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 38,000
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An essential language guide for Japanese-Dutch trade relations

KANO RYO. [Title in Japanese:] Rangaku hitori annai. [= Guide to Dutch studies].
[Tokyo?], Shimogakudo, [ca. 1856]. Small 8vo. Japanese introduction to the Dutch language, comprising 37 printed and 1 blank double leaves (with the fold at the fore-edge) printed from 37 woodblocks (35 double-page plus the first and last single-page), with the first double leaf (with the title-page) and the last double leaf (blank) serving as a paste-downs. With a second copy of the double-leaf with the title-page, loosely inserted. Side stitched and oversewn, with the original publishers yellow wrappers (without any label) and a contemporary wrap-around sleeve (fukuro), preserved in a brown cloth slip-case in Japanese style. [1], 15, 10, 10, [1], [1 blank] ll. Full description
€ 7,850
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Beautiful, detailed and accurate Japanese colour drawings, mostly botanical, on 85 double-page spreads

KEIEN. Kengyu-ka shasei [= Morning glory sketches].
Japan, Meiji 31?, 34-36 [=1898?, 1901-1903]. Very large 8vo? (28 x 20.5 cm). With 85 double-page (mostly botanical) drawings in black ink on Japanese paper, each showing 1, 2 or 3 figures, sometimes with additional detail drawings, nearly all coloured in watercolour and/or gouache and most with captions identifying the subject and/or giving the date. Front wrapper with the title in Japanese in black ink. Wrapper-title plus [85] double-page spreads. Full description
€ 6,500
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Maarten Gerritsz. de Vries' journey to the north of Japan (1643), with accompanying information by Von Siebold

LEUPE, Pieter Arend. Reize van Maarten Gerritsz. Vries in 1643 naar het noorden en oosten van Japan.
Including: SIEBOLD, Philipp Franz Balthasar von. Aardrijks- en volkenkundige toelichtingen tot de ontdekkingen van Maerten Gerritsz. Vries, met het fluitschip Castricum a[nn]o. 1643.
Amsterdam, Frederik Muller; [The Hague], Koninklijk instituut voor taal-, land en volkenkunde van Nederlandsch Indië, 1858. 2 parts in 1 volume. 8vo. With lithographed folding plate with reproductions of six signatures and a folded lithographed reproduction of Maarten Gerritsz. de Vries's original map, coloured in outline. Contemporary half cloth. [4], 440 pp. Full description
€ 1,800
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An account of Japan during the late Tokugawa Shogunate

LINDAU, Rudolf. Japan. Eene reisbeschrijving.
Leiden, De Breuk & Smits, 1865. 8vo. With lithographed title-page including a tinted lithographic view of a Japanese house and 6 people, after a photograph (protected by a tissue guard, tipped in). Original publisher's letterpress-printed boards. VII, [1 blank], 264 pp. plus lithographed title-page. Full description
€ 4,950
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Unofficial Rotterdam pharmacopoeia, later translated into Japanese

LIS, Wouter van. Pharmacopoea Galeno- chemico- medica probatissimis auctoribus, ratione & experiential fundata. Meng- schei- en geneeskonstige artseny-winkel; op de beste schryvers, de rede en ondervinding gebouwt; ... benevens een korte verhandeling, hoe met weinig genees-middelen de grootste ziekten worden genezen; als mede ... een verklaring van de voornaamste konstwoorden en characters.
Amsterdam, Jan Morterre, 1764. 4to. With engraved frontispiece by V.D. after A. Hordyk, title-page in red and black, with vignette in a roundel: the sun surrounded by the motto "Herbarum subiecta potential nobis", one full-page plate with the chemical symbols, printed in two columns. Half calf , gold-tooled spine, spine label lettered in gold. [34)], 436, [60] pp. Full description
€ 500
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Maffei's account of the East and West Indies, together with his life of Ignatius of Loyola

MAFFEI, Giovanni Pietro. Historiarum Indicarum Libri XVI.
Antwerp, Martinus Nutius, 1605.
With: (2) [MAFFEI, Giovanni Pietro]. Ignatii Loiolae vita, postremo recognita.
Antwerp, Martinus Nutius, 1605. 2 works in 1 volume (the first in 2 parts). 8vo. Contemporary vellum, remains of ties. [72], 478, [2 blank]; 401, [7]; 152, [12] pp. Full description
€ 3,500
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A French translation of Maffei's renowned description of the East and West Indies

MAFFEI, Giovanni Pietro. L'Histoire des Indes Orientales et Occidentales ...
Paris, Robert de Ninville, 1665. 2 volumes bound as 1. 4to. Each volume with a (different) woodcut coat-of-arms of France and Navarre on the title-page. Contemporary mottled calf, gold-tooled spine and board edges. [32], “353” [= 351], [1 blank]; [2], "292" [= 296], [24] pp. Full description
€ 1,250
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Maffei's account of the East and West Indies

MAFFEI, Joan Petro. Historiarum Indicarum libri XVI. Selectarum, item, ex India epistolarum libri IV...
Antwerp, Martinus Nutius, 1605. 8vo. With woodcut device on title-page and woodcut initials. Contemporary vellum with faint manuscript title on spine and a small gilt-stamped rooster in the centre of the boards, remains of ties. [72], 478, [2 blank]; 401, [7] pp. Full description
€ 6,500
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Martyrdom and persecutions of Jesuits in China and Japan

MAJORICA, Girolamo, Nicolas TRIGAULT and Alvaro SEMEDO. Lettere annue del Giappone dell'anno MDCXXII e della Cina del 1621 & 1622 al molto Reu. in Christo P. Mutio Vitelleschi preposito generale della Compagnia di Giesu.
Roma, Francesco Corbelletti, [1627?]. 8vo. With a woodcut "IHS" Jesuit device on title-page, woodcut headpiece, tailpiece and decorated initials. 18th-century flexible boards. 312 pp. Full description
€ 9,500
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Adventurous travels in the East

MANDELSLO, Johann Albrecht von. Morgenländische Reyse-Beschreibung.
Hamburg, Christian Guth, printed by Johan Holwein, Schleswig, 1658. Folio. With engraved frontispiece by Christian Rothgiesser, engraved author's portrait, double-page engraved map, and 21 large engravings in text, mostly signed by Rothgiesser. Contemporary pigskin, with boards blind-tooled in a panel design. [32], 248, [36] pp. Full description
€ 11,000
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Nice collection of 131 flags, banners standards and crests made in Japan

[MANUSCRIPT - FLAGS - JAPAN]. "All the flags from 1893".
Japan, 1893. Collection of drawings of 131 flags, banners etc. on separate leaves of varying sizes, most of them coloured.
With: (2) [MANUSCRIPT]. [Decorated Japanese rice-paper].
Japan, [1893?]. Ten sample leaves 928 x 38 cm) of so-called rice paper (actually cut in small sheets from the pith of the rice-paper plant, Tetrapanax papyrifer), decorated with varying designs, like flowers, fans and traditional Japanese dolls.
19th-century wrappers of thick handmade Japanese paper, reinforced with straps of paper containing Japanese characters and blue and red stamps; with the title of ad 1 in Japanese characters on the front wrapper. [131]; [10] ll. Full description
€ 5,000
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First edition of a report - with the rare folding map - from Commodore Perrys expedition containing directions for U.S. merchant ships navigating the coasts of China and Japan

MAURY, William Lewis & Silas BENT. Sailing directions and nautical remarks; by officers of the late U.S. naval expedition to Japan, under the command of Commodore M.C. Perry.
Including (with a divisional title): Fac-simile of the original treaty with Japan, with the English version.
Washington, A.O.P. Nicholson, public printer, 1857. Large 4to (ca. 29.5 x 23 cm). With a large folding map of the coast of China and of the Japanese and other islands, including the Marianas and the Philippines; and the facsimile of the 14-page treaty in Japanese printed on both sides of 7 integral leaves, with the English text printed letterpress on both sides of the following leaf. Original publishers half purple cloth, Spanish-marbled paper sides (grey with red, blue, black, yellow and white veins), letterpress paper label with the title in a built-up decorative border on the front board: "Sailing directions for the coasts of Japan and China". 22, [2], 14, [2] pp. Full description
€ 5,000
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Japan through the eyes of the last Dutch governor of Deshima (Nagasaki)

MEIJLAN, Germain Felix. Japan. Voorgesteld in schetsen over de zeden en gebruiken van dat ryk, byzonder over de ingezetenen der stad Nagasaky.
Amsterdam, M. Westerman & son, 1830. 8vo. With engraved title-page with hand-coloured vignette lightened with gold and 2 folding aquatint plates. Modern green half cloth, with the front of the original letterpress-printed wrappers mounted on front board and the back wrapper loosely inserted. [12], 190, [2 blank] pp. Full description
€ 3,500
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The basics for a foot soldier at the military school: very rare Japanese edition of a concise Dutch manual,
in a traditional Japanese binding

[MILITARIA - JAPAN]. De soldaten-school voor de Koninklijke Nederlandsche infanterie.
[copy imprint:] The Hague & Amsterdam, Gebroeders van Cleef, 1833 (last leaf: Tokyo, Juij Masuda, 1856). 8vo. Printed from woodblocks on Japanese paper in the traditional Japanese manner on the outside of double leaves with the fold at the fore-edge. With woodcut Japanese text on the half title and last leaf. With an illustrated title-page printed on paper which has been dyed red, facing the half-title, showing three soldiers. Contemporary Japanese brown paper covers, side stitched and oversewn through 4 holes (near the head and near the foot and 2 holes between them). In a modern Japanese gold brocade cloth chitsu (folding case) with 2 bone fastenings and a brown paper label. [15], 179, [6] pp. Full description
€ 12,500
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Bibliography of Portuguese and Spanish works on Chinese and Japanese linguistics, one of 150 copies

[MUÑOZ Y MANZANO, Cipriano], CONDE DE LA VIÑAZA. Escritos de los Portugueses y Castellanos referentes a las lenguas de China y el Japon. Estudio bibliográfico por el Conde de la Vinaza.
Lisboa; Madrid; Londres, M. Gomes; M. Murillo; B. Quaritch, 1892. 8vo. Contemporary half calf; spine ribbed with gilt title. 139 pp. Full description
€ 850
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Large Japanese watercolour painting of Nagasaki harbour, with many ships and boats

[VIEW - JAPAN]. OCHIAI Yoshiiku (UTAGAWA Yoshiiku). Kiyoko zuga [= Representation of Nagasaki harbour].
[Nagasaki, ca. 1880?]. A large watercolour painting of Nagasaki harbour (image size: 49.5 x 87.5 cm), probably on mulberry bark paper, with one large Asian ship, more than a dozen small Asian boats, and a steam boat in the background, all rendered following Western conventions of perspective. In a passe-partout in a modern wooden frame painted gold (95 x 125 cm), behind glass. Full description
€ 8,500
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Gunboat diplomacy in China and Japan

OLIPHANT, Laurence. Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's mission to China and Japan in the years 1857, '58, '59.
Edinburgh, William Blackwood and Sons, 1859. 2 volumes. 8vo. With 20 chromolithographed plates, 50 wood-engravings in text and 5 engraved folding maps. Contemporary gold-tooled green morocco, richly gold-tooled spine. XIV, 492; XI, [1 blank], 496 pp. Full description
€ 1,200
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1899 French-Japanese dictionary, printed in Hongkong

PAPINOT, Edmond. Dictionnaire Japonais-Français des noms principaux de l'histoire et de la géographie du Japon. Suivi de 17 appendices sur les empereurs, shogun, nengo, sectes bouddhistes, provinces, départements, mesures, etc.
Hongkong, Imprimerie de Nazareth, 1899. 8vo. With an engraved printer's device on title-page, engraved tailpieces and Japanese characters. Contemporary blind-tooled glazed purple calico over boards, title in gold on spine. VII, 297 pp. Full description
€ 1,950
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Programme printed on Commodore Perry's ship in Japan for its black-face minstrel show

[PERRY, Matthew Calbraith]. Ethiopian concert. United States steam frigate Powhatan, Hakodadi, Island of Yesso, Empire of Japan, May 29th [1854]. An Ethiopian entertainment will be given by the Japanese Olio Minstrels, on board this ship, this evening, weather favorable, to which the Officers invite your attendance.
[On board the Powhatan], Japan Expedition Press, [1854]. 19 x 26 cm as opened flat. A programme and invitation, printed letterpress on washi mulberry tissue paper with a lace-like decorative flower pattern in white. Full description
€ 27,500
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Ornate 19th-century album containing early carte de visite images by notable mid-19th-century photographers like André Disdéri,
including 2 photos of members of the 1862 Japanese Embassy to Europe

PHOTOGRAPHY - CARTE DE VISITE - JAPANESE EMBASSY - EUROPEAN ROYALTY]. [Carte de visite album showing members of the first Japanese embassy to Europe in 1862, European royalty, and other prominent 19th-century figures].
[France?], [various photographers], 1850s-1860s. Album: ca. 15 x 12 cm; cartes de visite: ca. 10 x 6.5 cm. With 26 carte de visite images and photos showing European royalty and other prominent figures, including 3 reproductions of drawings in colour, and 3 (landscape) views. Most of the photos are albumen prints. All images are mounted on thick paper to make the carte de visite and are inserted into the specially made leaves of the album, each leaf holding 2 images and framing them in a gold-printed triple fillet frame. Contemporary, richly blind-tooled green leather with ornamental brass clasps, gold-tooled board edges and turn-ins, white watered silk endpapers, gilt edges. [1 blank], [15], [1 blank] ll. Full description
€ 8,500
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Important Spanish account of missionary activities in Japan in excellent, contemporary parchment binding

PIÑEYRO, Luys. Relacion del sucesso que tuuo nuestra santa fe en los reynos del Iapon, desde el año de seyscientos y doze hasta el de seyscientos u quinze, Imperando Cubosama.
Madrid, widow of Alonso M. de Balboa, 1617. Folio. With woodcut coat of arms on title-page, repeated at the end of books 1, 2 and 3. Contemporary parchment. [16], 516, [8] pp. Full description
€ 31,500
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The wondrous travels of Pinto according to radical enlightenment philosophy

PINTO, Fernão Mendes and Jan Hendrik GLAZEMAKER (translator). De wonderlyke reizen van Fernando Mendez Pinto; die hij in de tijt van eenëntwintig jaren in Europa, Asia en Afrika... gedaan heeft.
Amsterdam, printed for Jan Rieuwertsz I and Jan Hendricksz Boom, 1653. 4to. With an engraved title-page and 7 engraved plates. Modern vellum. [8], 280 pp. Full description
€ 4,500
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Account of the Japanese Empire, especially in the 1850s

POMPE VAN MEERDERVOORT, Johan Lidius Cathrinus. Vijf jaren in Japan. (1857-1863.) Bijdragen tot de kennis van het Japansche Keizerrijk en zijne bevolking. ...
Leiden, Van den Heuvel and Van Santen, 1867-1868. 2 volumes. 8vo. Each volume with a different double-tinted lithographed view as frontispiece, further with a large folding tinted lithographed map of Japan and the Chinese coast, 2 lithographed views and 10 chromolithographed costume plates by P.W.M. Trap (the chromolithographs finished by hand). Original publisher's blind- and gold-blocked maroon cloth, marbled edges, green ribbon markers. XII, 335, [1]; VI, 357, [1] pp. Full description
€ 5,000
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Promoting Catholicism through missionary work as the Jesuits lost power:
a manuscript from the Sir Thomas Phillipps collection

[PROPAGANDA FIDE]. Africa [-] Greci - Italo Greci [-] Armeni di Venezia [-] varie.
[Rome and perhaps elsewhere, ca. 1758-1764 (transcribing original documents going back to at least 1664)]. 4to. Collection of manuscript transcriptions of about 30 letters and other documents. Contemporary Italian sheepskin parchment over flexible boards. [416] pp., including about 15 blank leaves. Full description
€ 39,500
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Brief and complete history of Japan

REIN, Johannes Justus. Japan: travels and researches. Undertaken at the cost of the Prussian government. ... Translated from the German. With twenty illustrations and two maps.
London, Hodder and Stoughton (back of title-page: Butler & Tanner, The Selwood printing Works, Frome, and London.), 1888. 8vo. With 8 wood engraved plates, 3 lithographed maps, 4 small engravings in text and 5 black and white phototypes and 2 tinted, lithographed folding maps. Modern half morocco. X, [2], 543, [1 blank], [2] pp. Full description
€ 650
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Of the utmost importance for leprosy in the Dutch East Indies, by the first Deshima doctor
to describe the medicine and culture of Japan to the West

RHYNE, Willem ten. Verhandelinge van de Asiatise melaatsheid, na een naaukeuriger ondersoek ten dienste van het gemeen.
Amsterdam, Abraham van Someren, 1687. With an ornament on the title-page.
With: (2) BEINTEMA VAN PEIMA, Joannes Ignatius Worp. Tabacologia, ofte korte verhandelenge over de tabak, desselvs deugd, gebruyk, ende kennisse: waar door aangeweesen wordt een wegh om lang, vroolijk, ende gesond te leeven.
The Hague, Levijn van Dijck, 1690. Lacking frontispiece. 2 works in 1 volume. 8vo. Contemporary vellum. [18], 181, [1 blank]; [12 (of 16)], 175, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 15,000
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"Pioneer Portuguese Jesuit missionary to Japan"

RODRIGUES GIRÃO, João. Litterae Iaponicae annorum M.DC.IX et X. ad R. admodum piae mem. p. Claudium Aquavivam generalem praepositum Societatis Iesu A.R.P. Provinciali eiusdem in Iapone Societ. Missae.
Antwerp, Petrus and Johannes Bellerus, 1615. 8vo. With woodcut printer's device on title-page. Modern limp parchment, gilt edges. [24], 111, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 4,750
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The persecution of Christians in Japan

[RODRIGUES GIRÃO, João and Jean VIREAU? (translator)]. Histoire de ce qui s'est passé au royaume du Japon l'annee 1624.
Paris, Sebastien Chappelet, 1628. 8vo. With a woodcut Jesuit seal on the title page. Contemporary tanned sheepskin, blind-stamped with a fleur-de-lys. [16], 390 pp. Full description
€ 6,500
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Second Latin edition of the annual report and letters on the events in Japan during the years 1609 and 1610

[RODRIGUEZ GIRAM, Joao]. Litterae iaponicae annorum M.DC.IX et X. ad R. admodum piae mem. P. Claudium Aquavivam generalem praepositum Societatis Iesu A.R.P. Provinciali eiusdem in Iapone Societ. missae.
Antwerp, P. & J. Bellerus, 1615. 8vo. Woodcut printer's device on title, woodcut initials. Contemp. limp vellum, title in ink on spine with traces of colouring, remnants of ties. [24], 111, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 8,500
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Enlarged Dutch edition of a description of Southeast Asia

SALMON, Thomas and Matthias van GOCH. Hedendaegsche historie, of tegenwoordige staet van alle volkeren; ... I. deel. Behelzende de tegenwoordige staet der keizerryken China en Japan, als mede van de Ladrones, Filippynsche en Molukkische eilanden, en van Makassar.
Amsterdam, Isaak Tirion, 1729. 6 parts in 1 volume. 8vo. With engraved frontispiece by Jan Caspar Philips, 3 engraved folding maps and 7 engraved plates (2 full-page and 5 folding, including 4 signed by Philips and dated 1728-1729). The maps show: (1) China, (2) Japan and (3) the Philippines, including the greater part of Indonesia. Contemporary blind-tooled vellum. [20], 88, [2], 91-200, [4], 203-318, [2], 319-442, [4], 443-554, [8], 555-645, [19], [2 blank] pp. Full description
€ 2,500
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Rare first and only edition of an important account of the Christian missions, by an Augustinian in Mexico

SICARDO, José (Joseph). Christiandad del Japon, y dilatada persecucion que padecio. Memorias sacras, de los martyres de las ilustres religiones de Santo Domingo, San Francisco, Compañia de Jesus; ...
Madrid, Francisco Sanz, 1698. Folio (31 x 22 cm). With the title in a frame of vine-leaf ornaments and 2 woodcut armorial headpieces plus 1 repeat. Contemporary limp sheepskin parchment, later lettered spine-title. [16], 448 [= 450], [13], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 35,000
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Siebold's last journey to Japan, in original publisher's wrappers

SIEBOLD, Alexander Freiherr von. Ph. Fr. von Siebold's letzte Reise nach Japan 1859-1862 ... von seinem ältesten Sohne.
Berlin, Kisak Tamai, 1903. 8vo (22.5 x 14 cm). With title-page in Japanese and German, 2 half-tone plates showing photographic portraits of Philip von Siebold (1 with his son Alexander) and 3 photographic views in the text. Original publisher's printed cloth-covered paper wrappers, with publisher's advertisements printed on paste-downs. IX, [1], 130, [4], [2 blank] pp. Full description
€ 1,950
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Newly discovered shells from the Arabian Gulf, Taiwan, China and Japan, with a chromolithographed plate

SMITH, Edgar. Descriptions of five new shells from the Island of Formosa and the Persian Gulf, and notes upon a few known species.Including: BOCK, Carl. Descriptions of two new species of shells from China and Japan.
[London], 18 June 1878. With a chromolithographed plate depicting 14 shells. Modern paper wrappers. 727-732 pp. Full description
€ 850
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Important account of Cape province

THUNBERG, Carl Peter. Resa uti Europa, Africa, Asia, förrättad åren 1770-1779.
Uppsala, Joh. Edman, 1788-1793. 4 volumes. 8vo. With 9 full-page and 1 folding engravings, depicting African and Japanese weapons and ornaments. Early 19th-century half calf. [26], 389, [1]; [30], 384; [14], 414; [36], 341, [1] pp. Full description
€ 2,250
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Second editions of Titsingh's "Cérémonies" and "Mémoires et anecdotes"

TITSINGH, Isaac. Cérémonies usitées au Japon, pour les mariages, les funérailles, et les principals fêtes del'année; ... Orné de 24 gravures, faites d'après des peintures japonaises.
Paris, Nepveu (back of half-title: printed by dHautel), 1822. 3 volumes. 18mo. With 23 (of 24?) etched plates (including 3 as frontispiece, and 17 folding), all but one in contemporary hand-colouring. Late 19th-century, gold-tooled brown half morocco, gilt edges. XXX, IV, 127, [1 blank]; [4], 139, [1 blank]; [4], 206 pp. Full description
€ 5,000
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Scholarly essays on Japanese culture

TITSINGH, Isaac. Bijzonderheden over Japan behelzende een verslag van de huwelijks plegtigheden, begrafenissen en feesten der Japanezen ...
The Hague, Widow J. Allart, 1824-1825. 2 volumes. 8vo. With engraved title-pages and 4 folding, etched (and partly aquatint) plates, all in original publisher's hand-colouring. 19th-century half cloth. I-II, [2], III-XVI, 250; [6], 264 pp. Full description
€ 4,500
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Japanese woodblock geography of the Middle and Near East and Indonesia, with 5 maps and 35 views

UCHIDA Masao. Yochi shiryaku [Compendium of world geography].
[Tokyo], Meiji 4 [= 1871]. (25.5 x 17 cm). With the title and all text in Japanese, printed from woodblocks on rice paper, with 1 double-page, 2 full-page and 2 half-page maps and 12 full-page and 23 half-page illustrations of architecture, people and costumes, topography, plants and animals. Original publisher's heavy paper wrapper. [1 blank], 59, [1] ll. Full description
€ 4,500
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Introducing Dutch medicine into Japan

UDAGAWA, Genshin. Ihan Teiko.
Edo (Tokyo), 1805. 2 volumes: 3 parts in 1 text volume., and 1 atlas volume. Text volume (8vo), atlas vol. large 8vo (30 x 21 cm). With numerous anatomical illustrations on 16 engraved plates, mounted on thick paper, by the Japanese artist Aodo Denzen. Both volumes in contemporary Japanese book-bindings; rice-paper (text) and boards (atlas). [90]; [16] ll. Full description
€ 11,500
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"Nikko meisho zue": an extensively illustrated guide to famous sites in the Nikko region, Japan

UEDA, Moshin [and others?]. Nikko sanshi [= Pictorial record of Nikko].
Edo [= Tokyo], [Ihachi Suharaya and others?], 1837. 5 volumes together in a case. 26 x 18 cm. (Edo period book size: obon). Printed from woodblocks on Japanese mulberry-bark paper. With 78 double-page, 12 single page and 4 small (in text) woodcut illustrations of the Nikko region, including 7 double-page and 1 single page colour-printed illustrations in vol. 4. Bound in the traditional Japanese fukuro toji manner, in the original publishers blue paper wrappers.The 5 volumes are stored in a modern blue cloth chitsu (Japanese style folding case). [53], [1 blank]; [1 blank], [40]; [1 blank], 51, [1 blank]; [1 blank], 55, [1 blank]; [1 blank], 49, [1 blank] double ll. Full description
€ 12,500
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Richly illustrated journey of Nicholas II of Russia through Asia

UKHTOMSKY (UCHTOMSKIJ), Esper Esperovich and Hermann BRUNNHOFER (translator). Orientreise seiner kaiserlichen Hoheit des Grossfürsten-Thronfolgers Nikolaus Alexandrowitsch von Russland, 1890-1891.
Leipzig, F.A. Brockhaus, 1894-1899. 2 volumes. 4to. With engraved portrait of Nicholas, 7 photogravures, 541 wood engravings after drawings and photographs and 5 chromolithographed maps. Publisher's cloth, richly blocked in black, gold and grey, gilt edges. [4], 476; [4], 482 pp. Full description
€ 8,500
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Complete collection of Japanese erotic woodblock prints in colour, by a famous artist

UTAGAWA KUNIMARO. Nyogo ga shima engi no irifune. [A treasure ship embarking at the Isle of Women].
[Japan], 1848-1854. 3 volumes. 22.2 x 15 cm. Volume 1: with a full-page woodcut illustration of 3 cranes (on the title-page?) on the inside of the front wrapper, 8 double-page woodcut illustrations showing erotic scenes, and a full-page woodcut illustration of 3 turtles. Volume 2: with a full-page illustration (on the title-page?) of pine needles and bamboo, 5 double-page woodcut illustrations showing erotic scenes, and a full-page woodcut illustration of plum blossoms. Volume 3: with a full-page illustration (of two pans on the title-page?), 4 double-page woodcut illustrations showing erotic scenes, and a full-page illustration of a table with a plant next to a draught screen. All illustrations are beautifully hand-coloured and set within a printed black frame. Original decorated paper wrappers (showing radiating suns in dark blue and blue and orange) in the traditional Japanese fukurotoji manner (double leaves with the fold at the fore-edge, each double leaf printed from a single woodblock on the 2 outside pages with the title and leaf numbers on the fold, stabbed and oversewn with yellow thread through 4 holes without a spine), the front and back wrappers folded in at all 4 edges, the first and last printed leaves pasted down to the wrappers, publishers manuscript title-label on the front wrapper. 3, 16; 16; 16 pp. Full description
€ 6,850
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Reports from Japan by two famous Jesuits (1589 & 1590)

VALIGNANO, Alessandro and Luís FRÓIS. Copia di due lettere annue scritte dal Giapone del 1589. & 1590. L'una dal P. Viceprovinciale al P. Alessandro Valignano, l'altra dal P. Luigi Frois al P. Generale della Compagnia di Giesu. Et dalla Spagnuola nella Italiana lingua tradotte dal P. Gasparo Spitilli della Compagnia medesima. ... Con licentia de' superiori.
Rome, Luigi Zanetti, 1593. Small 8vo (15 x 10.5 cm). Limp sheepskin parchment (ca. 1700?). 125, [3 blank] pp. Full description
€ 12,500
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Famous Dutch voyages of discovery, with 2 maps, 1 plan and 61 plates

[VOC - WIC]. Nederlandsche reizen, tot bevordering van den koophandel, na de meest afgelegene gewesten des aardkloots. ... Met plaaten. Eerste[-veertiende of laatste] deel.
Amsterdam, Peterus Conradi; Harlingen, W. van der Plaats, 1784-1787. 14 volumes bound as 6. 8vo. With 2 engraved folding maps, 1 engraved folding city plan and 61 engraved plates (56 folding) including many topographic views. Uniform half tree calf (ca. 1820?), gold-tooled spines. Full description
€ 9,500
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Early edition of the 1588 Korean translation of a classic Confucian schoolbook

ZHU XI (CHU HSI). [In Korean:] Sohak eonhae [In Chinese:] Xiaoxue jizhu [= Elementary learning].
[Korea], [1744?]. Folio (32.5 x 21.5 cm). With the pages printed in pairs (each page 17 x 10 characters) from 2-page woodblocks, each in a frame of thick rules, with thin rules between the columns, the title and leaf number between the pages on the fore-edge fold, with 2 decorations (4 leaves in white on black above the title and below the leaf number). Printed on Asian (probably paper mulberry bark) paper, with clear chainlines (about 20 mm apart) and laidlines (about 2.1 mm apart), with the text in a mixture of hanja (Chinese characters) and hangul (the Korean alphabet). Contemporary Korean spineless wrappers with an embossed diaper pattern (made from interwoven diagonal triple lines) on the inside (mostly covered by the paste-down), side-stitched and oversewn through 5 holes, with manuscript title on the front wrapper and the spine edge. 66 double ll. Full description
€ 25,000
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