Overview
From Paula Curtis Collection[1]: This thematic portal which presents the voyage of the Prussian expedition and the negotiations with the Japanese Shogunate government in 1860/61, was created to commemorate the celebration of “160 Years of German-Japanese Relations“. The German envoy, Friedrich Graf [Count] zu Eulenburg, had secured the agreement after several months of persistent talks and diplomatic wrangling. This contract was completely modeled after the treaties concluded with the other Western countries before. It belongs to the group of unequal treaties that were very much to the disadvantage of Japan. As a consequence of these agreements Japan lost to some extent its sovereignty.
During their stay in Japan, the members of the expedition also purchased books, maps, and picture scrolls, which were intended for the then Royal Library – today’s Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (SBB-PK). Later, further items from the possessions or the estate of the members of the delegation found their way into the Royal Library. These works constituted the beginnings of the Japanese collection. About 100 items are still extant today. The historical Japanese collection, including the titles that belonged to the expedition members, can today be consulted in the digitised collections of the SBB-PK. Further information regarding the beginnings of the Japanese collection of the SBB-PK can be found in the respective thematic portal.
The following account of the journey of the expedition is based on (unless stated otherwise) the description of Albert Berg in “Die preussische Expedition nach Ost-Asien. Nach amtlichen Quellen [The Prussian expedition to East Asia. Based on the official sources]“ (Berlin, 1864-1873, 4 vols.).
- Institution/Author: CrossAsia
- Period: Modern
- Geographic Focus: Japan
- Access: Open Access
Digital Humanities Resources on East Asia by Dr. Paula R. Curtis ↩︎