The Dutch scholar Isaac Titsingh (1745-1812) was head of the Dutch trading post at Dejima and spent in total some 44 months in Japan (in the years 1779-1780, 1781-1783, and 1784). He collected material for a monumental work on Japan, but published only several brief essays during his lifetime. The Paris-based publisher 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). The present second edition combines these two works, leaving out some short essays.
The first volume consists of essays on Japanese marriage ceremonies, the second is devoted to funeral ceremonies and some other feasts, and includes an account of "dosia", a powdered recreational and medicinal drug, while the final volume consists of a series of anecdotes about the shoguns.
In very good condition, with some plates slightly tattered at the edges. The bindings show some light wear. Cordier, Japonica, col. 449; Landwehr & V.d. Krogt, VOC 536; Tiele, Bibl. 1096 note.