[Japan] Verkerk Pistorius, P.W. (1804-1844). Bijdrage tot de geschiedenis van Japan

ten tijde van de preediking der Christen leer aldaar. Manuscript treatise, ca. 1840, 21 folio pages w. approx. 58 lines on each page, followed by 26 blank pages, orig. wr. w. letterpress archive number 549 on front cover, 32 x 20.5 cm. Some staining, but in good condition. The manuscript is kept in a modern Japanese-style cloth folder.

The final page cut out but present, with some contemp. annotations in pen listing 5 'Bloedverwanten van den Bruidegom', members of the noble Van Wassenaar and Van Balveren families. On the back wr. the annotation in pencil: 'Cadet Van Wassenaar. Ziekenzaal 2'. Important and extensive original source on the history of Japan, as seen from a Christian perspective and from the perspective of wanting to expand commercial trade with Japan. The posthumously published version (in Algemeen Letterlievend Maandschrift, vol. 49, 1849), was edited and shortened compared w. our manuscript. Cf. Pagès/ Wenckstern, A bibliography of the Japanese empire, Vol. I, 1895, p. 95 (the published version). The learned Verkerk Pistorius lived at Decima from 1823 to 1833, had access to official archives there and he worked together with Von Siebold.