Paris, A. Nepveu, 1820. 8vo (19.3 x 12.0 cm). xxviii, 302 pp.; one hand-coloured folded frontispiece, one engraved folded table, five hand-coloured folded plates. Contemporary full tree calf. Spine rich gilt including empire vignettes and a red morocco label with gilt title. Marbled endpapers. Edges speckled.

Isaac Titsingh (1745-1812) was a Dutch surgeon, scholar, merchant and ambassador. During a long career in East Asia, Titsingh was a senior official of the Dutch East India Company. Between 1779 and 1784 he was head of a factory in Deshima, then the only “eye” between Japan and the rest of the world. 18th and early 19th century Japan was much of a mystery to foreigners. This work unveils some its secrets. However, it does not only deal with the Japanese and their customs, but also reports on the geology of the country and in particular on the active volcanos. Two of the large, hand-coloured folded plates depict eruptions; of the Asama-Yama, and of a volcano in the Simahara district. The first of these plates, as well as a view of the island of Deshima with the Dutch factory were used again in Titsingh's Byzonderheden over Japan, volume II (1825), see Landwehr. This edition is the first one published. The French sinologist Jean Pierre Abel Rémusat (1788-1832) edited the work after Titsingh's death in Paris. An English translation was published in 1822 and formed the basis of a translation (back?) into Dutch. Boards slightly rubbed, caption of one plate shaved with some small loss of text. Inner front hinge reinforced, otherwise a fine copy of this very rare work. Brunet V, 28316; Landwehr 456 (not this work, but Byzonderheden over Japan, see above).