ILLUSTRATED SINO-JAPANESE ENCYCLOPEDIA, This Volume on TEXTILES, GARMENTS, CLOTH, CLOTHING and FOOTWEAR.

WAKAN SANSAI ZUE, by Ryoan Terashima.

Published in Japan, circa 1712 (presumed first edition). TEXT IN JAPANESE.

This is ONE VOLUME from the Illustrated Sino-Japanese encyclopedia published in 1712 during the Edo period. The entire work consisted of 105 volumes in 81 books. This book contains chapters 27-30, describing and depicting textiles, clothing, footwear and headwear.

Blue paper covered flexible boards, stab-stitched, paper label on front cover 102 pages. Illustrated with b&w drawings.

FAIR condition: The covers are worn, with scrapes, areas worn through the blue paper, and much chipping to the original paper labels; otherwise these original covers are still sturdy and doing their job. Internally, there is worming throughout, heaviest at the gutter area and the bottom margin, but also with worm holes and long worm lines on the face of some pages; nonetheless the pages are quite legible (except maybe some characters) and the drawings and printing are sharp and clear.

An original 1712 volume of the Wankan Sansai Zue.

About WAKAN SANSAI ZUE (from Wikipedia)

******The Wakan Sansai Zue (Illustrated Sino-Japanese Encyclopedia) is an illustrated Japanese leishu encyclopedia published in 1712 in the Edo period. It consists of 105 volumes in 81 books. Its compiler was Terashima or Terajima (Terajima Ryoan), a doctor from Osaka. It describes and illustrates various items and activities of daily life. As seen from the title of the book (wa), which means Japan and (kan), which means China), Terajima's idea was based on a Chinese encyclopedia, specifically the Ming work Sancai Tuhui ("Pictorial..." or "Illustrated Compendium of the Three Powers") by Wang Qi (1607), known in Japan as the Sansai Zue. Reproductions of the Wakan Sansai Zue are still in print in Japan.******