Visions of a Japan that isn’t coming back, at least not as it was in 1823. Imagery from Philipp Franz von Siebold’s work “Nippon: Archiv zur beschreibung von Japan und dessen neben- und schutzländern Jezo mit den südlichen Kurilen, Sachalin, Korea und den Liukiu-inseln.” Published by L. Woerl in Wurzburg and Leipzig, Germany.

Philipp Franz von Siebold was born in Würzburg in Bavaria (now part of Germany) in 1796 into a family of physicians. He became a physician himself. In 1822, he entered the service of the Dutch East Indies Army as chief medical officer stationed in Batavia. The next year the governor-general for Batavia sent him on an expedition to Japan so these are from life though how many years there were between when he went and when the drawings were done I am not sure. He traveled with apothecary Heinrich Bürger and the skilled painter C.H. de Villeneuve so presumably Villeneuve did the drawings. He traveled to Japan on at least one more occasion, the last time being in 1859.

Learn more about him here https://www.sieboldhuis.org/en/about/siebold/

I didn’t find this book by myself. I found a copy up for sale on the website of rare book seller Antiquariaat Schierenberg schierenberg.nl who were vendors at the rare book fair here last fall.