XU, Jiyu.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Ying huan zhi lue ("Brief Records of the World"). First Japanese edition of this extraordinary geographical and historical compendium, containing 43 detailed maps and printed only a few years after the Perry Expedition. Compared to the first Chinese edition (1848), the hemisphere maps exhibit more technical cartographic knowledge and are printed in colour, while the volumes as a whole reflect the high standard of woodblock printing for which Edo Japan is well known.Brief Records of the World was compiled by the Qing dynasty official Xu Jiyu (1795-1873), who served as the governor of Fujian province during and after the First Opium War. In the wake of China's defeat, Xu recognized the urgent intellectual need for more knowledge of the world beyond Asia. "As a scholar and researcher, but with a realistic official's commitment to ascertain the true nature of his environment, Hsu sought to portray the world outside of China as it was shown on Western maps and described in materials written by both Westerners and Chinese. He embarked on a project to plumb the mysteries of the earth, to chart the oceans and continents, to present the peoples and states of the watery globe. Hsu's comprehensive manual of the world's states... manifested a quality of objectivity and credibility which made it a popular world history and geography for decades in China. The book began to fill the vacuum in China's geographical appreciation of the non-Chinese world. A world never before in clear focus now

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.