Johann Caspar Scheuchzer, (26 January 1702 – 21 April 1729; also known as Hans Kaspar and Jean Gaspard) was a Swiss naturalist, physician and writer on the history and culture of Japan
Scheuchzer was born in Zürich. The third child of the Zürich scholar Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (1672–1733) and his wife Susanna,[1] he grew up in a stimulating environment. His father worked as a physicist, psychiatrist, psychiatrist, naturalist and a writer on the Alps. Scheuchzer translated and edited the manuscript "Today's Japan" by Engelbert Kaempfer, which had been acquired by Hans Sloane with the rest of Kaempfer's collection – this translation was published in two folio volumes in 1727, with a title page reading:
The History of Japan: giving an account of the ancient and present state and government of that empire; of its temples, palaces, castles and other buildings; Of Its Metals, Minerals, Trees, Plants, Animals, Birds and Fishes; Of The Chronology and Succession of the Emperors, Ecclesiastical and Secular; Of The Original Descent, Religions, Customs, and Manufactures of the Natives, and of their Trade and Commerce with the Dutch and Chinese. Together with a Description of the Kingdom of Siam. Written in High-Dutch by Engelbertus Kaempfer, M.D. Physician to the Dutch Embassy to the Emperor’s Court; and translated from his Original Manuscript, never before printed, by J. G. Scheuchzer, F.R.S. and a Member of the College of Physicians, London. With the Life of the Author, and an Introduction. Illustrated with many Copper Plates. London: Printed for the Translator, MDCCXXVII.
This work may have exacerbated Scheuchzer's illness and his exact cause of death is unknown. He died in spring 1729 in Sloane's house in London and was buried on 24 April in the churchyard of Chelsea Old Church.
