Hōgen monogatari 保元物語

Archive Unit
  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 59 16052.f.4
  • Dates of Creation
      1657
  • Language of Material
      Japanese
  • Physical Description
      3 volumes Condition: Generally good. Minor worm damage, severe only in maki 3. Impression: Blocks show some evidence of wear. Illustrations: A total of 35 sumizuri illustrations, distributed as follows: maki 1, ff. 6a, 8a, 12a, 14b, 18b, 22a, 24a, 25a, 29b, 32a, 35b; maki 2, ff. 7b, 17a, 19a, 21b, 23b, 26a, 29a, 31a, 33b, 39a, 40b, 45b, 47a; maki 3, ff. 7b, 11a, 13b, 19b, 22b, 26a, 27a, 31a, 33b, 39a, 40a. Unlike 16052.f.29, these are not hand-coloured. Nevertheless, the rounded and enlarged features of human figures suggest that this edition may have been intended as a tanroku-bon 丹緑本. Seals of ownership: None.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: N.p., n.d. Meireki 3, 1657 ?. No kanki. See under Edition below. Description: 3 kan, 3 satsu. (1) ff. 35; (2) ff. 47; (3) ff. 40. 265 x 184 mm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame varies between 218 and 224 x 172 mm. Single-line borders round text and illustrations. Vertical rules mark off frame bordering 3 / 4-page illustrations. No fishtail design on hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with printed furigana, dakuten and kutōten. 13 lines to page, 24-25 characters to line. 265 x 184 cm. Light buff covers of very thin paper, embossed with a geometric rhomboid pattern, now badly rubbed, overlying covers of thicker grey paper. Recently renewed title slips on maki 1 and 3, with manuscript gedai: 保元物語. Edition: Lacks kanki but the view that both belong to the Meireki 3 明暦三年 (1657) edition is reinforced by the close similarity between this copy and its sister work Heiji monogatari 平治物語 (16052.f.20), indicating that both belong to the same edition and both share the same kanki, Meireki 3 明暦三年, Yasuda Jūbē 安田十兵衞. Contents: A semi-historical war tale (gunki monogatari) describing the power struggle for the imperial succession in the Hōgen no ran 保元の乱 of 1156. It focuses on the figure of Minamoto no Tametomo as a tragic hero, and on the bitter internecine strife between members of the same families: Fujiwara, Taira and Minamoto. This work is usually paired with Heiji monogatari (q. v.).

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired at Glendining''s sale, London, 22 March 1956.

Other Finding Aids

Kenneth Gardner, Descriptive Catalogue of Japanese books in the British Library printed before 1700 (London and Tenri, 1993). C. Japanese works 和書 5. Literature - Fiction 国文-小説 d. Gunki monogatari 軍記物語

Bibliography

Kokusho sōmokuroku 国書総目録, vol. 7, p. 253; Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 5, pp. 424-6; Descriptive catalogue of Japanese and Chinese illustrated books in the Ryerson Library of the Art Institute of Chicago , pp. 38-9.