Setsuyōshū 節用集

Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: Kyōto, Keichō 16, 1611. Kanki on fol. 138b of maki 下 reads: 慶長拾六年九月日 ／ 洛下烏丸通二条二町上之町刊之. Description: 2 kan, 2 satsu, bound in 1 vol. (western style). (上) ff. 114; (下) ff. 138. 27 x 18.4 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 23.5-24 x 16.5 cm. Single-line borders, with 'flower petal' fishtail design on hanshin. Vertical rules between columns. Text in kanji, printed in parallel columns with kaisho form on left and gyōsho / sōsho form on right, the latter with printed on and kun readings in katakana. Main headings (iroha) and classified subheadings throughout the text are printed inkoku 陰刻 (intaglio, white characters on a black ground), as is the iroha syllabary and list of subjects used as subheadings, on fol. 114b of maki 上. 8 lines to page, 12-14 characters to line. Original dark brown front cover of maki 上 only, within modern western style halfleather binding. Renewed title slip with manuscript gedai in a mid-Edo period hand: Iroha setsuyōshū jō 伊呂波節用集上. Title from naidai. Hashiragaki: Setsuyōshū jō 節用集上 (ge 下) + folio no. Edition: An edition based on the early-Keichō Ekirin-bon versions, but with text augmented by reference to the Keichō 15 (1610) edition published by Jukan 壽閑 (see Kojisho no kenkyū, p. 821). It has many features in common with Jukan's edition. Of all the editions of Setsuyōshū published in the Keichō period, the present edition has the greatest number of additions to the original text. It is also the precursor of the numerous nitai 二躰 versions published later in the 17th century, in which the kaisho and gyōsho / sōsho forms of kanji are printed side by side. Contents: Japanese dictionary compiled in the mid-15th century, reflecting the spoken language of the Muromachi period and showing how kanji are to be written and read. Kanji are arranged in iroha イロハ order, with a uniform classification under each iroha syllable. A simpler dictionary to use than its precursors, such as Kagakushū 下學集.

Unrestricted

Acquired from Ernest M. Satow, 22 Sept. 1884.

Kenneth Gardner, Descriptive Catalogue of Japanese books in the British Library printed before 1700 (London and Tenri, 1993).C. Japanese works 和書 3. Language 言語 a. Dictionaries and script 辞書・字書

Kojisho no kenkyū, 古辞書の研究, pp. 821-2; Kohon setsuyōshū no kenkyū 古本節用集の研究, pp. 97-100; Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 3, pp. 621-2.