輿地新. [Yochi shinzu furoku]. [Supplement to the Map of the World].

Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo: 勝村治右衛門 [Katsumura Jihei], 柳原喜兵衛 [Yanahara Kihei], 北畠茂兵衛 [Kitahata Mohei] et al.. 1874. Two volumes, small quarto (250 x 180 mm), Japanese 5 hole stab binding, original yellow paper covers (rubbed) and title labels; with volvelle showing the earth’s orbit, 3 double page copper engraved colour maps, and numerous black and white maps and illustrations; damp staining at upper margins of a few leaves, else a very clean and attractive set.

Two volumes published to accompany Murata’s Japanese translation of German cartographer Hermann Berghaus’s work Chart of the World.

The first volume includes chapters titled “On maps”, “Quick Time Chart in Different Places”, “Five Zones of the Earth”, “Zones Differentiated by Temperature”, “Distribution of Metal, Mountain ranges, Volcanos, and High and Low Lands”, “Comparison of High Mountains and Great Rivers”, “Comparison in Size of Lakes”, and “Comparison in Size of Various Islands”. The second volume includes “Races and Distribution”, “Chart of Populations of Big Cities”, and “Chart of Sea Routes and Distances for Mail Steamers and Sailing Ships”.

The translator, Murata Fumio (better known as Nomura Fumio, the name he used in later life after his divorce), was a native of Hiroshima. Through his acquisition of Dutch he studied the West and in particular Western medicine. He spent three years in England in the mid 1860s, and in 1869 he published Seiyo Kenbunroku [Travels to the West], which introduced the Western world to Japan in the early Meiji period.