(KOREA.) Hayashi Shihei; after. Chosen Koku Zenzu. Large manuscript map of the Kingdom of Korea. Ink and watercolor on 4 sheets of thin paper joined, 30x22 inches overall; old folds, minor early repairs. Japan, Tenmei 5 (1785)

Hayashi Shihei, a Japanese scholar with military interests, put forth one of the earliest attempts to define the boundaries of Japan with a concern for security and national defense in his work Sangoku Tsuran Zusetsu (Illustrated General Survey of the Three Countries). Shihei's book was banned by the government in 1792 and practically all copies were destroyed. The maps within the book were preserved and perpetuated in manuscript copies, such as the present. The map delineates the peninsula of Korea and surrounding islands, notably showing Takeshima/Dokdo, whose claim has long been disputed with Japan.