No. 122, November 2001

Selections from NDL Collection 

Takahashi Collection

By Hiroharu Orita
Senior Librarian, Cataloging Department

As an economist-book collector, J.M. Keynes (1883-1946) is famous. When he passed away, he bequeathed not only economic books but also almost 7,000 rare books to his alma mater, King痴 College, Cambridge University. 

Mr. Seishi Takahashi (1933-1991) was also an economist-book collector who left a large amount of books at his relatively early death. He was assistant professor of Hosei University and majored in credit theory. He wrote "Shohin kahei ron (A study on commodity money)" (1972). 

I will never forget the day when I visited his old house to see his collection, for his bereaved family wanted to donate it to the National Diet Library. His room was an amazing sight with thousands of Japanese books and over two thousand western books. As I expected, they were chiefly books related to economics. But among them were many rare books and there also was an array of catalogs of Sotheby's, the famous auctioneer. The NDL accepted 1,129 western books that it did not already have, and put an ownership stamp saying "Previously owned by Mr. Seishi Takahashi" on each book. I heard that other books were donated to some libraries in Okinawa prefecture.

We do not designate these books as a special collection. But we customarily call it the "Takahashi Collection" because of its many rare books. Nearly 250 of the 1,129 books are not economics books but so-called rare books. Their subjects vary: philosophy, religion, history, literature, classical economics and science. Especially 92 volumes of them were hand press book printed before 1830 and 18 volumes are designated as Rare Books and Semi-rare Books of the Library. Mr. Takahashi collected books with attention to the differences of edition and impression; there are the first and second impressions of the first edition of T. Hobbes Leviathan. 

First impression of the first edition of Leviathan

Second impression of the first edition of Leviathan

Rare Books

• Euclides Elementa geometriae (Venice, 1482) 
• H. Languet Vindiciae contra tyrannos (Edimburgi, 1579)

Semi-rare Books

• F. Bacon Instauratio magna...(Londini, 1620)
• T. Hobbes Leviathan (London, 1651)
• A. Smith An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations (London, 1776)
• T. R. Malthus An essay on the principle of population (London, 1798)

etc.

Jenner An inquiry into the causes and effects of the variolae vaccinae...(1798)

18th century first editions:

• G. Berkeley A treatise concerning the principles of human knowledge (Dublin, 1710)
• J. Swift Travels into several remote nations...(London, 1726)
• C. Montesquieu De l'ésprit des loix (Genève, 1748)
• R. Cantillon Essai sur la nature du commerce en général (Londres, 1755)

etc.

19th century hand press books:

• K. F. Gauss Disqvisitiones arithmeticae (Lipsiae, 1801)
• J. Keats Endymion (London, 1818)
• J.S. de Sismondi Nouveau principes d'économie politique (Paris, 1819)
• G. W. F. Hegel Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts (Berlin, 1821)

etc.

Others (first edition):

• C. Dickens A Christmas carol in prose (London, 1843)
• S. Freud Die Traumdeutung (Leipzig und Wien, 1900)
• R. Luxemburg Die Akkumulation des Kapitals (Berlin, 1913-21)
• M. Heidegger Sein und Zeit (Halle, 1927)

etc.

Bunyan The Pilgrims progress (2nd ed., 1838)

There are many first editions of famous works in his collection. He also collected various editions of not only works of economists such as D. Ricardo, J. S. Mill and J.M. Keynes but also the plays of Ibsen and the works of George Orwell. We can perceive his taste from these books.