First Dutch edition of Titsingh's Illustrations of Japan (1822). Isaac Titsingh (1745-1812) was head of the Dutch trading post at Dejima and spent in total some 44 months in Japan. He collected material for a monumental work on Japan, but published only some brief essays during his lifetime. Nepveu posthumously issued two volumes of selections from Titsingh's papers, translated into French: Cérémonies usitées en Japon pour les mariages et les funérailles (1819) and Mémoires et anecdotes de la dynastie regnante des Djogouns (1820). These were translated into English by Frederic Shoberl and published in one volume as Illustrations of Japan (1822), the basis for the present Dutch translation. It consists of essays on Japanese marriage and funeral ceremonies and some other topics, including seppuku (ritual suicide), and a series of anecdotes about the shoguns.
Last page with contemporary owner's entry of "F.E. de Zoete senior". Some browning, a few spots, bindings slightly dirty, overall in good condition. Cordier, Japonica, col. 451; Landweh & V.d. Krogt, VOC, 538; Tiele, Bibl. 1096.