[On the circumstances of the publication of the 1855 edition of "Roshia Gyuto Zensho" (Russian Vaccination Book)].

There is a report that the 1850 edition of "Roshia Gyuto Zensho" (Russian Vaccination Book) translated by Sajuro Baba and edited by Sen-an Riko is not extant and that the 1855 edition of the book is the first edition. The author found an important document entitled "Shichu-Torishimari Zokuruishu - Shoseki-no-bu" at the National Diet Library, which includes several official records describing the publication circumstances of "Roshia Gyuto-Zensho" issued in 1856. This document has scarcely been referred to by medical historians before. It reads as follows: "Ihachi Subaraya, the publisher, asked the magistrate of Edo to permit him to publish and sell two volumes of the translated vaccination book entitled "Roshia Gyuto Zensho" in 1856. The magistrate consulted the members of astronomy division of the Tokugawa Shogunate concerning its possible publication and gave finally a sanction to the publisher after careful consideration. There is a description in the records which shows that two volumes of the 1850 edition were submitted for check, indicating that the 1855 edition is the second and the 1850 edition is the first edition. Behind the situation regarding the granting of permission to the publisher by the Shougunate, there would have been the fact that Sajuro Baba, the translator of the book, was one of the founders of the division of astronomy of the Shogunate.