From the second half of the 18th century, Japanese obstetricians incorporated William Smellie’s Anatomical Tables in their publications. The translation and explanation of an obstetrical print from 1880 indicates that Smellie’s influence continued during the early Meiji period, a transition period characterized by a combination of western knowledge and traditional medical thoughts from the Edo period (1603–1868).
Van der WeidenRMFUhlenbechGC. European 18th-century obstetrical pioneers in Japan: a new light in the Empire of the Sun. Journal of Medical Biography2010; 18: 99–101.
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Smellie W. Verzameling van ontleedkundige afbeeldingen, met dezelver uitleggingen benevens een kort begrip der vroedkunde … [translation of A set of anatomical tables: plates X, XII, XXX, XXXII]. Amsterdam: J Morterre, 1765.
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HomeiA. Birth attendants in Meiji Japan: the rise of a medical birth model and the new division of labour. Social History of Medicine2006; 19: 407–424.
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DonzéPY. Studies abroad by Japanese doctors: a prosopograhpic analysis of the nameless practitioners, 1862–1912. Social History of Medicine2006; 23: 244–260.
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The full translation and the concordances between the figures on the Japanese obstetrical print (1880) and the plates in the Dutch edition of Smellie’s Anatomical Tables (1765) can be obtained via the corresponding author.
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TezukaA. Bakumatsu Meiji kaigai tokōsha sōran, 3 volumes. [Tezuka’s database contains biographical data for all Japanese who studied abroad from 1853 to 1912], Tokyo: Kashiwashobo, 1992.
