Yoshio Shunzo (or Nanko or Josan depending on the translator) & Kusano Yojun. - [Rigaku Nyushiki : Ensei Kansho Zusetsu].

Nagoya, Tohekido 1826 (Bunsei 9). Three volumes 23x16cm publisher's wrappers with title labels (covers fairly dusty and smudged, particularly the front of the first and back of the third); 12 woodcut illustrations in the first volume including a quite up to date world map in two hemispheres and two plates with overlays and volvelles. A rather good set. ¶ This study and explanation of western astronomy appeared with different imprints, sometimes dated, between 1823 and 1828. Many cataloguers take their date from the end of the text (Bunsei 6) rather than any publisher's details. Comparing Waseda's copies and this one I'm convinced these are not just printed from the same blocks but are the same sheets with new titles and publisher's matter inserted at each end.Yoshio was by descent a sort of follower of Shizuki Tadao who introduced to Japan at the end of the 18th century the notion of an heliocentric planetary system but whose work never got beyond manuscripts read by a few friends and followers. Goodman ('Japan and the Dutch') tells us that Yoshio used two fairly basic Dutch books and Tadao's writings to illustrate the systems of Ptolemy, Brahe and Copernicus in the first volume; deals with the sun, earth, planets, stars, constellations, comets and so on in the second and third; and finishes with an appendix on Tadao's attempt to reconcile a Newtonian universe with Chinese tradition.

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