The furthest goal : Engelbert Kaempfer's encounter with Tokugawa Japan

Kaempfer's acclaimed History was the result of two years' research in Japan in the early 1690s but publication was delayed for some 30 years when, in 1727, it was finally published in London under the title The History of Japan. It subsequently appeared in a total of ten editions of translations and reprints in the decade that followed: an extraordinary achievement for a work of this kind. It became required reading for all serious students of Japan for over a century, and was even on board Commodore Matthew Perry's ship in 1852 when he challenged the Japanese government's policy of 'national isolation'. Today, Kaempfer's work remains required reading for any student of the Tokugawa period. Yet, amazingly, little has been published about the author, his personal encounter with late-seventeenth-century Japan and the way this experience came to reach the public in the form of The History. The Furthest Goal, therefore, brings together some of the best current research on Kaempfer in English for the first time and includes a close analysis of six key topics - from the writing of The History to an interpretation of the interpreter. Introduction: The Furthest Goal / Beatrice M. Bodart-bailey -- Writing 'the History Of Japan' / Beatrice M. Bodart-bailey -- The Intepreter Interpreted: Kaempfer's Japanese Collaborator Imamura Genemon Eisei / Paul Van Der Velde -- Forgotten Practices Of The Past: Kaempfer's Strange Description Of The Japanese Emperor / Carmen Blacker -- The Plants That Carry His Name: Kaempfer's Study Of The Japanese Flora / Wolfgang Muntschick -- The History Of 'the History': The Purchase And Publication Of Kaempfer's 'history Of Japan' / Derek Massarella -- Changing The Image: The Drawings And Prints In Kaempfer's 'history Of Japan' / Jörg Schmeisser -- Epilogue: Inquisitive And Intelligent Men / Derek Massarella. [edited By] Beatrice M. Bodart-bailey, Derek Massarella. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 189-198) And Index. This important study brings together some of the best current research on Kaempfer (author of the History of Japan, also published by Curzon) for the first time and includes a close analysis of 6 key topics from the writing of the History to an interpretation of the interpreter himself. Lemgo, while the younger, Andreas, was a noted scholar of Hebrew. The earliest extant written words in young Engelbert's hand are those on his elder brother's matriculation essay.