Ise monogatari 伊勢物語

Author/compiler: Unknown. Traditional text believed to have been edited by Nakanoin Michikatsu 中院通勝 for this edition. Imprint: N.p., Yasokusō (=Nakanoin Michikatsu), Keichō 13. 1608. Dated kango reads: 伊勢物語新刊就余需勘挍抑京極黄 ／ 門一本之奥書云此物語之根源古人之説 / 不同云 如今以天福年所被與孫女本正之 ／ 然而猶恐有訂挍之遺欠也更圖畫巻中 ／ 之趣分以爲上下是雖不足動好女人情 ／ 聊爲令悦稚童眼目而已 ／ 慶長戊申仲夏上浣 ／ 也足叟 (花押). Description: 2 kan, formerly in 2 satsu, now rebound in 1 vol. western style. Folios unnumbered. 26.9 x 19.4 cm. Fukurotoji. Movable type. Printing frame 22.5 x 16 cm. No borders. No printed hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with many kana linked in twos and threes by ligatures. 9 lines to page, 16-18 characters to line. Original pale pink front cover of satsu 上 only, decorated with a mica-printed floral design of unohana (Deutzia scabra). Title slip (originally in centre) now missing, hence no gedai. No naidai, except in batsubun / kango. Modern western style half-leather binding. Text and illustrations are printed on paper of varying colours: chiefly white, but some pink, pale green, pale blue and pale yellow. Edition: Saga-bon, designed and produced by Hon'ami Kōetsu 本阿彌光悦 and Suminokura Soan 角倉素庵 at the Saga Press, near Kyōto. Hanshita based, according to tradition, on Kōetsu's calligraphy. The handwritten seal (kaō 花押) following the name Yasokusō 也足叟 at end of kango, and the absence of folio numbering, confirm that this is a genuine Saga-bon printed in Keichō 13 (1608) from movable type, and not a blockprint based upon it. On available evidence, the edition to which the present copy belongs cannot be established with certainty. The most likely probability is that this copy is an amalgam of pages from differing editions and was printed in Keichō 13 (1608). Contents: A collection of lyrical episodes, combining prose and waka poetry, composed in the mid-10th century by an unknown author of the Imperial Court. Formerly attributed to the 9th century poet Ariwara no Narihira 在原業平.

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Acquired from William Anderson, 21 March 1894.

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 a. Early monogatari 古物語.

Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 1, pp. 153-6; Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 430-40, 855; Sagabon zukō 嵯峨本図考, pp. 23-41, pl. 7-27; Hōsho yoroku 訪書余録, vol. 6, pl. 27 (1-3).