Catalogue of the Japanese collection of J.F. Van Overmeer Fisscher

A catalogue with Japanese titles and Dutch and English explanations of the items collected by J.G.F. Van Overmeer Fisscher whilst stationed for ten years at Nagasakki, the Dutch factory in Japan. This is a handwritten manuscript which begins with the title 'Nipon of Japan' and the Japanese alphabet. This is followed by an explanatory introduction, in Dutch, by Overmeer Fisccher in which he records how he came to own the objects; that the catalogue just provides a brief description of the objects along with some translations appended to the literature and antiquities; and that he is donating his collection to the 'Netherland Academy'. The introduction is signed Van Overmeer Fisscher and dated Batavia, 10 August 1829. Thereafter follows a series of lists including for geography, linguistics, antiquities, and musical instruments. Some parts have explanations in both English and Dutch entries but many lists are just in Dutch.
The manuscript is bound in a leather and marbled cover bearing the Royal Asiatic Society's logo on the spine, indicating that binding or rebinding occurred after its donation. The spine also bears the title 'Japanese Dutch-English Word-Book' suggesting that the identity of the manuscript was unknown when the binding took place.

Johannes Gerhard Frederik van Overmeer Fischer began as a clerk at Dejima, the Dutch station in Japan, and he was later promoted to warehouse master. During the span of his stay in Japan, Fischer's access to Japanese culture was limited but he amassed a considerable collection of objects. This material was taken back to the Netherlands in 1829. In 1833, he published _Bijdrage tot de kennis van het Japansche rijk (Contribution to the knowledge of the Japanese Empire)._

Open. Please contact the archivist. Details can be found here : https://royalasiaticarchives.org/. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID.

It is unknown how this manuscript came to be part of the Society's collections. The Donations Register for the Society states that Samuel Beal donated "Brief remarks on Japanese titles" on 30 November 1863, but it is not known if this is the manuscript indicated by that entry.

Johannes Gerhard Frederik van Overmeer Fischer began as a clerk at Dejima, the Dutch station in Japan, and he was later promoted to warehouse master. During the span of his stay in Japan, Fischer's access to Japanese culture was limited but he amassed a considerable collection of objects. This material was taken back to the Netherlands in 1829. In 1833, he published _Bijdrage tot de kennis van het Japansche rijk (Contribution to the knowledge of the Japanese Empire)._

Other copies exist at the Museum Volkenkunde, Leiden, and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris. These are not identical to this manuscript.

This manuscript was catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2022. Many thanks to Sven Osterkamp for help with identification via Twitter.

Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.

Several copies of Van Overmeer Fisscher's catalogue were made in 1829. Walter Henry Medhurst is thought to have played a role in the compiling.

Published

gb891-sc43