How “Catalogues of Insects” Were Made: Sen Chū Fu (“Catalogue of One-Thousand Insects”) by Kurimoto Tanshū and Its Influence
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Volume 1 of Tanshū's Catalogue of Insects, Written by Kurimoto Tanshū, Meiji era, 1875
Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 15
June 20, 2023 (Tue) - August 20, 2023 (Sun)This exhibition introduces some of the Museum’s natural history catalogues, which constitute a large part of the Museum collection.
From the latter half of the 18th century, many natural history catalogues were published and highly sought after by many walks of life, including samurai lords, painters, and doctors. Natural history catalogues contained not only illustrations of featured specimens, but also various other pieces of information about them, such as their names, general facts, means of obtaining them, and the date and time of sketching. They are valuable writings that provide glimpses of the society and culture of the time.
This exhibition sheds light particularly on Sen Chū Fu (“Catalogue of One-Thousand Insects”; preface dated 1811), which was written and illustrated by Kurimoto Tanshū (1756–1834), a high-ranked in-house doctor of the Edo shogun. This catalogue is said to be the first illustrated book of insects in Japan. The exhibition lineup includes documents that provide information about Tanshū himself, books that he referred to, and illustrated books of insects that were published after Tanshū’s time
| Designation | Name | Creation/ Excavation/ Provenance |
Period | Acquisition/ Ownership/ Accession Number |
CMT | ||
| Highlight | Volume 2 of "Sen Chū Fu" ("Catalogue of Insects") | Written by Kurimoto Tanshū (1756–1834) | Edo period–Meiji era, 19th century | Gift of Mr. Tokugawa Muneyoshi, QB-10752-2 | |||
| Highlight | Volume 3 of "Sen Chū Fu" ("Catalogue of Insects") | Written by Kurimoto Tanshū (1756–1834) | Edo period–Meiji era, 19th century | Gift of Mr. Tokugawa Muneyoshi, QB-10752-3 | |||
| Highlight | Volume 1 of "Illustrated Catalogue of Insects" | Written by Iimuro Masanobu (1789–1858) | Edo period, 1856 | QA-920-1 | |||
| Highlight | Volume 1 of "Tanshū's Catalogue of Insects" | Written by Kurimoto Tanshū (1756–1834) | Meiji era, 1875 | QA-917-1 |