= Extremely rare set of the two studybooks for the Dutch language, published in Japan, in the combination the Japanese preferred to use around mid 19th cent. in their Dutch studies. Both copies carry the patina of the 19th century, the tropical climate (worming) and thorough study (marg. and interlineair Japanese translation in manuscript added); the second volume bears the former owner's name in black pen on backwrapper: "Dit behoort aan Watanabe" [This belongs to Watanabe]. Overall an extremely rare and desirable set.See at large Henk de Groot, in: Voortgang, Jaarboek voor Neerlandistiek, XIX (2000), p.143 ff (cited and paraphrased here-under). Very rare Japanese grammars, first published by Suwaraya Ihachi for the Japanese market and intended to further the knowledge and understanding of the Dutch language, which the Japanese at the time thought to be the main western language. The Dutch and their language provided the Japanese with the possibility to gain knowledge of western medical and technical sciences and to communicate with Dutch officials. The Dutch had occupied a unique position for over 200 years in Japan, having an exclusive trade-post in Deshima (Nagasaki), which period came to an end in 1854, when the Japanese isolation policy was loosened. There was a sudden increase in Japan in demand for western knowledge, which led to a huge interest in the study of Dutch language - and the produce of many Dutch grammars. There was a delay of several years before the Japanese understood that Dutch was not the major European language they had thought it to be. It was during this short period of adjustment that Grammatica had its brief moment of Japanese glory.Both these Japanese woodblock Dutch grammar editions were edited by Mitsukuri Genpo (1799-1863), a well-known and influential physician and Rangaku (Dutch Studies) scholar of the later Edo period, (…) [who] was engaged by the government as an interpreter for international negotiations and his translation of a Western work on steam engines was used to build Japan's first steamboat. His Oranda bunten zenpen (‘Dutch Grammar, Volume One’) is a complete reproduction of the second edition of Grammatica (1822). Traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques were used. In order to carve the wooden printing blocks, the entire work was copied in cursive writing in fine brush onto translucent paper, which was then glued face down on wooden slabs for carving into printing blocks. (…) Despite the slow and laborious nature of the process, care was taken to copy everything contained in the original work, even down to the foreword by the secretary of the Maatschappij tot Nut van 't Algemeen, although its contents were irrelevant to Japanese students of Dutch. A faithful facsimile of the secretary's signature as it appeared underneath his foreword was also included, which resulted in the secretary, Hendrik Ravekes, often being mistakenly cited in subsequent Japanese editions of Grammatica as the author of the work. A woodblock print reproduction of the 1810 edition of Syntaxis was produced by Genpo in 1848, and published under the title Oranda bunten kohen seikuron (‘Dutch Grammar, Final Volume; About Dutch Phrases’), and his Grammatica reproduction was reprinted in 1857.Condition: vol.1 wrappers a few wormholes and faded; vol.2 wrappers and first and final few leaves quite heavily wormholed (no loss of text); wrappers faded and original binding-thread partly renewed; w. contemp. Japanese manuscript translations, which show at first hand how this grammar was used at the time as a tool for learning.