Onkosai Shinshi [Onkosai on Ginseng]

1 p.l., 32 pp.; 1 p.l., 10 pp.; 1 p.l., 5, [1], 7-15 pp. Three parts in one vol. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. block-printed title-label on upper cover. From printed label pasted on inside of lower cover (partly in trans.): Aichi Prefecture: Mikawa shiryo kanko kai, printed in 70 copies, 1936.


First edition and a rare provincial printing, limited to 70 copies only. Sato (1762-1848), was a leading honzo scholar and writer on agricultural matters. He advised a number of fiefdoms throughout Japan on modern agricultural techniques. The first two parts of this work print Sato's hitherto unpublished writings on the cultivation of ginseng. The fine woodcuts depict various stages of the plant's development and parts, methods of sheltering the seedlings, etc.


Part Three prints for the first time Boyo Yamamoto's Ninjin shoshoku ko [How to Cultivate Ginseng]. Yamamoto (1778-1859), a prominent Kyoto doctor and botanist, was a direct disciple of Ono Ranzan (1729-1810), the famous botany professor. The author of many botanical and herbal works, Yamamoto had a school - the Yamamoto Dokushoshitsu - where he taught herbal medicine. Yamamoto left a number of works in manuscript, of which this is one.


This book was printed by mimeograph, reproducing handwritten characters.


Fine copy. Not found in WorldCat.