Kanja otogi zoshi [A Companion Book for Arithmeticians]

Many woodcut illustrations, including five double-page woodcuts. 30; 29; 29 folding leaves. Three vols. 8vo, orig. patterned semi-stiff wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. Kyoto: Ten'nojiya Ichirobei, 1743.


First edition. "The author Nakane Genjun (1701-1761) was a Wasan and calendar scholar. He was the son of Nakane Genkei (1662-1733). This book is not a systematized Wasan book but one that is mainly compiled from mathematical recreations, featuring inserted illustrations throughout. It freely covers an assortment of both hard (academic) and soft (recreational) materials...


"At the end, it introduces the results of the fields into which most research efforts were poured in those days, such as Kohaijutsu. It was Kasai who wrote the afterword to the book; he was a disciple of Nakane, and his principal occupation was the operator of a bookstore called Ten'nojiya. After this, Ten'nojiya would become the sole bookstore that undertook the publication of major mathematical books by the Seki school, including the works of Nakane and his father."-from the National Diet Library's wonderful web-page "Japanese Mathematics in the Edo Period."


Nakane Genjun was one of the best of the writers on mathematical recreations. In the present work, "the mercantile use of the Soroban [abacus] is explained [and illustrated] and the check by the casting out of nines is first used in multiplication, division, and evolutions in Japan."-David Eugene Smith & Yoshio Mikami, A History of Japanese Mathematics, p. 170.


Occasional light dampstaining, but a nice set. With some worming touching characters and images, all carefully repaired.