979 - KAEMPFER, Engelbert *Natural, Civil, and Ecclesiastical History of the Empire of Japan*: written in German [...] and translated into French from the English version by Jean-Gaspar Scheuchzer [...]. A work enriched with numerous illustrations drawn from life by the author himself. Amsterdam: P. Gosse & J. Neaulme, 1729, 2 vols., folio: [10, incl. frontispiece]-lii-217, [4]-313-73-73/96 pp.; 43 (of 45) pl. (plates 24 and 42 missing, hole in the fold of the map). Contemporary marbled sheepskin, gilt-ornamented spines with raised bands, red edges (joints slightly rubbed, boards slightly scratched). Rare first edition of the French translation by François Naudé (The Hague, 1729) of “The History of Japan” (London, 1727–1728) by the German cartographer, orientalist, and traveler E. Kaempfer (1651–1716), a physician aboard a ship of the Dutch East India Company. Kaempfer landed in Japan in 1690 and stayed for two years after receiving permission from the emperor to travel across the country. The result is a highly accurate account of 17th-century Japan, illustrated with an allegorical frontispiece. and 43 fold-out maps and plans (nos. I–XLV), including a map of the Empire of Japan, 4 town plans of Juthia (capital of Siam, now Ayutthaya in Thailand), Nagasaki, Piyako, and Jedo (now Tokyo), 1 map of the Menam River (Thailand), and 4 road maps of itineraries from Nagasaki to Osaka and Tokyo. Ref. Chadenat 1884. — Cordier, *Japonica*, 416–417. - STCN. - Cf. Cox I:332. Formerly owned by Théodore de Valenzi (bookplate).