Engelbert-Kaempfer-History-of-Japan-Frontispice-1727

Table showing mortality of smallpox from 1721-9 Wellcome M0010784

Johann Caspar Scheuchzer, (26 January 1702 – 21 April 1729; also known as ''Hans Kaspar'' and ''Jean Gaspard'') was a Swiss naturalist, physician and writer on the history and culture of Japan

Life

Scheuchzer was born in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. The third child of the Zürich scholar

Johann Jakob Scheuchzer Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (2 August 1672 – 23 June 1733) was a Swiss physician and natural scientist born in Zürich. His most famous work was the ''Physica sacra'' in four volumes, which was a commentary on the Bible and included his view of ...

(1672–1733) and his wife Susanna, he grew up in a stimulating environment. His father worked as a physicist, psychiatrist, psychiatrist, naturalist and a writer on the Alps. Scheuchzer translated and edited the manuscript "Today's Japan" by

Engelbert Kaempfer Engelbert Kaempfer (16 September 16512 November 1716) was a German natural history, naturalist, physician, exploration, explorer, and writer known for his tour of Russia, Iran, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, and Japan between 1683 and 1693. He ...

, which had been acquired by

Hans Sloane Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet, (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector. He had a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British ...

with the rest of Kaempfer's collection – this translation was published in two folio volumes in 1727, with a title page reading: This work may have exacerbated Scheuchzer's illness and his exact cause of death is unknown. He died in spring 1729 in Sloane's house in London and was buried on 24 April in the churchyard of

Chelsea Old Church Chelsea Old Church, also known as All Saints, is an Anglican church, on Old Church Street, Chelsea, London SW3, England, near Albert Bridge. It is the church for a parish in the Diocese of London, part of the Church of England. Inside the Grad ...

Scheuchzer's edition of the ''History of Japan''

Works

* ''Theses de diluvio publico & placido eruditorum examini subjicient Præses Johannes Jacobus Scheuchzerus Med. Doct. Math. Prof. ..atque Joh. Casparus Scheuchzerus, J.J.F. ..author et respondens. MDCCXXII ..Tiguri,d. i. Zürich Ex Typographeo Bodmeriano.'' * ''John Gasper Scheuchzer: An account of the success of inoculating the small-pox in Great Britain, for the years 1727 and 1728. With a comparison between the mortality of the natural small-pox, and the miscarriages in that practice; as also some general remarks onits progress and success, since its first introduction. To which are subjoined, I. An account of the success of inoculation in foreign parts. II. A relation of the like method of giving the small-pox, as it is practised in the kingdoms of Tunis, Tripoli, and Algier. London, J. Peele, 1729.''

Bibliography

*B. M. Bodart-Bailey: ''Kaempfer Restor’d.'' In: Monumenta Nipponica, 43, 1, 1988, S. 1–33
Andrea Rusnock, ‘Scheuchzer, John Gaspar (1702–1729)’
– ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'' (subscription required) * W. Michel: ''Johann Caspar Scheuchzer (1702–1729) und die Herausgabe der History of Japan.'' In: Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatiques, 64, 1, 201
Zurich Open Repository and Archive ZORA
S. 101–137

References

External links

Scheuchzer, John Gaspar (1702–1729)
in the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Scheuchzer, Johann Caspar Japanologists Swiss naturalists 18th-century naturalists Fellows of the Royal Society Physicians from Zurich 1702 births 1729 deaths Burials at Chelsea Old Church Writers from Zurich