2 volumes bound in 1, plus 2nd appendix dated 1728 and printed for Thomas Woodward and Charles Davis. Title-pages printed in red and black. Engraved additional title plus 45 copper-engraved plates (most double-page). (Folio) 18½x11¼, early full speckled calf, gilt-ruled, spine gilt in compartments. First Edition. Large-Paper Copy.

An exceptional copy of Kaempfer's important work, one of the most influential histories to shape the West's conception of Japan: handsome, on large-paper, and including the rare second appendix which publishes an English journal of a 1673 voyage to Japan. Kaempfer (1651-1716) was a Swedish physican and diplomat. He visited Japan in 1690-92 as part of the Dutch East India Company and was twice allowed to visit Edo. Kaempfer wrote this work in German, but a German-language edition did not appear until 1777.