Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [Genna / Kan'ei period, c. 1620-40] . No colophon. Description: 2 kan, 2 satsu. (上) ff. 22; (下) ff. 19. 27 x 17.8 cm. Fukurotoji. Movable type. Printing frame 22.2 x 16.3 cm. No borders. No vertical rules. No fishtail design on hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text without furigana. 11 lines to page, 20 characters to line. Original black covers, faintly embossed with a lozenge design. Renewed title slip (late-Edo period) on maki 上 only, with manuscript gedai: Taketori monogatari 竹取物語. Title from naidai. Hashiragaki: Jō 上 (ge 下) + folio no. In a modern silk brocade chitsu case with floral design. Contents: One of the earliest works of prose fiction in Japanese literature, 'The Tale of the Old Bamboo Cutter', dating from the early Heian period. Probably written c. 850-950. Concerns a supernatural being, found in a bamboo stem by an old woodcutter and brought up as his daughter under the name Kaguyahime, 'The Shining Princess'.
Taketori monogatari たけとり物語
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- ReferenceGB 59 Or.74.c.13
- Dates of Creation[1620-1640]
- Language of MaterialJapanese
- Physical Description2 volumes Condition: Fair to good. Some water staining and worm damage in both maki. Corner of last leaf of maki 下 repaired, with some loss of text. Impression: Sharply and cleanly impressed, from little-worn type. Seals of ownership: Small square red seal, Tō (Fuji) 藤 at bottom right of first page of maki 上 and 下.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Acquired from Kōbunsō, 12 Feb. 1968.
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 a. Early monogatari 古物語
Bibliography
Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 503, 507, 885; Tenri toshokan kisho mokuroku 天理図書館稀書目録, vol. 3, p. 336 (Type 4 'ro' 第四種本「ロ」); Ryūmon bunko zenpon shomoku 竜門文庫善本書目, p. 141 (Type 4 'i' 第四種本「イ」).