Dutch Learning
The two titles highlighted in this page are examples of Rangaku (Dutch Learning) from the late Edo period. Both were published by the famous Rangaku scholar Mitsukuri Genpo 箕作阮甫. The two also stand out in their unique appearances and format. It was likely that Mitsukuri has transcribed the originally letterpress-printed Dutch versions and printed them using woodblocks.
Oranda bunten kōhen seigu ron 和蘭文典. 後編, 成句論. Syntaxis, of woordvoeging der Nederduitsche taal
Creator: Matthijs Siegenbeek,
Publisher: Mitsukuri Genpo 箕作阮甫, 1799-1863
Publication year: 1848
During the Edo period (1603–1868), Rangaku 蘭学, or Dutch Learning, was an important channel for the Japanese learned elites to learn about Western knowledge, especially technology and medicine. The Dutch were the only group of Europeans allowed to open factories and conduct trade on the Dejima island near Nagasaki during the Bakufu’s sakoku policies (1641–1853). This volume is the second half (kohen 後編) of a Dutch language textbook compiled by University of Leiden professor Matthijs Siegenbeek (1774–1854), first published in Leiden in 1810. The first half (zenhen 前編) is titled Grammatica, of Nederduitsche Spraakkunst [Grammar, or Dutch Speech Art], published in 1814. The book’s publisher, Mitsukuri Genpo 箕作阮甫 (1799–1863) was a prominent Rangaku scholar and led the Bakufu’s Bansho shirabesho 蕃書調所, an institute designated for Western Learning in 1856. Mitsukuri Genpo was also an avid collector and translator of foreign books. This language textbook, like Kakuchi mondō 格致問答, was transcribed by hand and printed with woodblocks.
Further reading:
Kure, Shūzō. Mitsukuri Genpo. Tokyo: Dai Nihon Tosho, 1914.
Kakuchi mondō 格致問答. Natuurkundig schoolboek
Creator: Matthijs Siegenbeek,
Publisher: Mitsukuri Genpo 箕作阮甫, 1799-1863
Publication year: 1856
During the Edo period (1603–1868), Rangaku 蘭学, or Dutch Learning, was an important channel for the Japanese learned elites to learn about Western knowledge, especially technology and medicine. The Dutch were the only group of Europeans allowed to open factories and conduct trade on the Dejima island near Nagasaki during the Bakufu’s sakoku policies (1641–1853). This two-volume title is a reproduction of a Dutch physics textbook published in 1828. There are kanji characters occasionally attached in between the Dutch texts. Copperplate illustrations of the solar system were attached in the second volume. This textbook was transcribed by hand and printed with woodblocks.