On the Background and Compilation of Donker Curtius's Japanese Grammar

<p>Proeve eener Japansche Spraakkunst (1857) is a Japanese grammar compiled in Dutch by J.H. Donker Curtius, head of the Dutch factory on Deshima, and edited by Prof. J.J. Hoffmann. It has thus far mostly been treated as a precursor of Hoffmann's own Japansche Spraakleer/A Japanese Grammar (1867-1868), but its value as a Nagasaki dialect source has also been noted. Due to mistranslations of Hoffmann's foreword and a lack of attention to related historical materials, however, many aspects of the background and process of its compilation have remained insufficiently understood. I aim to remedy this by discussing the results of my investigation of the following materials:</p><p>1) The manuscript Donker Curtius originally submitted to the Dutch government, as well as one of Hoffmann's personal copies of the published work, replete with his handwritten annotations. Both are kept at the Leiden University Library (shelfmarks LTK 593 and 864 C 4).</p><p>2) The archives of the Dutch factory in Japan (Nederlandse Factorij in Japan, 1.04.21) and the Ministry of Colonies (Ministerie van Koloniën, 2.10.02), both kept at the National Archives in the Hague.</p><p>Based on these materials, I argue that Donker Curtius was assisted in compiling his grammar mostly by his Japanese servants on Deshima, whereas the Japanese interpreters (tsūji) helped in correcting the manuscript. I also point out that Donker Curtius may have adopted some vocabulary items from the Japanese-Dutch dictionary Rango Yakusen/Nieuw Verzameld Japans en Hollandsch Woordenboek (1810). Additionally, I report the discovery of copies of a number of pages of Donker Curtius's lost manuscript Dutch-Japanese dictionary, a copy of senior interpreter Namura Hachiemon's laudatory declaration regarding Donker Curtius's grammar manuscript, and 49 pages of Katsu Kaishū's autograph comments on this manuscript. Katsu, then a naval student at Nagasaki, wrote these comments in Dutch.</p>