Important early Japanese work on medicine

HOMMA, Gencho [HONMA, Soken].

Yohka hiroku (Secret records of surgery).

Edo: Izumiya Kinemon, 1847.

1st Edition. Soft cover. Near Fine. Item #002248

10 Parts in 12 Volumes. Edo: Izumiya Kinemon, Kôka, 4 [= 1847] (postscript date: Tenpô 8 [= 1837]). 255 x 165 mm. With numerous, mostly coloured woodcut illustrations by Kimura Kahei. Xylographically printed and stack-folded double leaves in Japanese stitched binding. Blue original wrappers with xylographic title tag (little soiled and rubbed, stitching renewed, title tag of part 9 partly detached). Internally crisp with only very little paper browning. Two red ownership seals to vols. 1, 4 and 6. ----

Kerlen 1877; Kraft IV, 309; Hirsch-H. III, 289; G. E. Mestler, A Galaxy of Old Japanese Medical Books With Miscellaneous Notes on Early Medicine in Japan, p.154, pl. IV. - FIRST EDITION of Gencho (or Soken) Homma's most important work, a treatise on surgical diseases and particularly in inflammatory tumors. Contains remarkable illustrations, including impressive woodcuts of various tumor types and illustrations of surgical instruments, surgeries, bandages etc. Includes the first clinical and epidemiological description of tularemia (rabbit fever, here vol. 9) in modern times, described as 'hare meat poisoning' (cf. Naoyoshi Hatchome & Mitsuo Sato, On the 'Yatobyo' Exanthem [Tularemid], in: The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine, vol. 60, no. 1, 1954, pp. 59-66)."
Particularly meritorious ... for the prevailing conditions great surgical work " (Hirsch-H).

Price: 4,500 €  *  convert currency