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Encyclopedia of Western Art (Kōmō zatsuwa 紅毛雑話) : [volume 3]

Morishima, Chūryō,‏ ‎1754-1810?‏ · 1787 · Edo : Suharaya Ichibei · 5 pictures

This Edo-period Japanese woodblock volume of 1787 by Morishima Chūryō, published in Edo by Suharaya Ichibei, is a Western-learning encyclopedia for educated Japanese readers, drawing on Swammerdam's microscopy of insects. Its pages show insects and their life stages in precise, hatched ink line with small annotations beside each figure, in a clean, diagrammatic layout a designer could use for scientific-style plates, field-guide spreads, or taxonomy-inspired patterns.

Microscopy · Swammerdam, Jan, 1637-1680. Historia insectorum generalis

Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art · No known copyright restrictions · More from this library