Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [Keichō period, c. 1600-15] . No colophon. Description: 12 kan, formerly in 12 satsu, now rebound in 2 vols. western style. A composite copy made up of two hiragana-majiri editions: maki 1-3, 11 lines to page, Keichō / Genna period; maki 4-12, 10 lines to page, Nakanoin-bon 中院本, Keichō period. Folios unnumbered, but the number of folios in maki 4-12 is identical with the copy described in Kokkai Catalogue. 26.8 x 19.6 cm. Fukurotoji. Movable type. Printing frame 22.8 x 16.6 cm. (maki 1-3); 22 × 16.8 cm. (maki 4-12). No borders. No printed hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with printed kutōten in the form of black dots incorporated in the type. 11 lines to page, 20 characters to line (maki 1-3); 10 lines to page, 18 characters to line (maki 4-12). Off-white front covers of satsu 1 and 7 only, both belonging originally to a different blockprinted edition of early Edo period. With blockprinted title slips bearing gedai: 新板平家物語一 (七). Title from naidai at head of 目録 and 本文 of each maki. In a modern western style half-leather binding. Edition: An incomplete copy (maki 4-12) of the Nakanoin-bon edition, supplemented by 3 volumes (maki 1-3) from another movable type edition, 11 lines to the page, of Keichō / Genna period. Contents: Greatest of the war tales (gunki monogatari 軍記物語), dealing with the heyday of the Taira family (1160-80) and the wars between the Taira and Minamoto clans (1180-85), ending in the crushing defeat of the Taira (Heike 平家). Probably written by a court noble in the early 13th century, though the original source material is uncertain. The work is permeated throughout by Buddhist doctrines of the impermanence of human life and activity.
Heike monogatari 平家物語
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- ReferenceGB 59 Or.75.e.7
- Dates of Creation[1600-1615]
- Language of MaterialJapanese
- Physical Description2 volumes Condition: Generally good, apart from minor worm damage and, especially in maki 1-3, numerous water-stained folios. The physical state of maki 4-12, containing the Nakanoin-bon, is markedly better than that of maki 1-3. Impression: Maki 1-3 printed from type showing considerable signs of wear. Maki 4-12 are lightly impressed from an elegant font of less worn type. Seals of ownership: Two oblong red seals, Wagaku kōdansho 和學講談所 and Onkodō bunko 温故堂文庫 (seal of Hanawa Hokiichi 塙保己一), on first page (目録) of each former satsu. Manuscript notes: None in maki 4-12. A few interlinear kanji and manuscript kutōten in black in maki 1-3.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Donated to the British Museum by (Sir) Ernest M. Satow 13 June 1885.
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
Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 291, 426, 476, 533, 895, pl. 81; Ryūmon bunko zenpon shomoku 竜門文庫善本書目, p. 149; Daitōkyū kinen bunko kichōsho kaidai 大東急記念文庫貴重書解題, vol. 3, p. 61; Takagi bunko kokatsuji-ban mokuroku. 高木文庫古活字版目録, p. 16; Zenpon eifu 善本影譜, series 1, vol. 5; Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 5, pp. 390-9; Heike monogatari shohon no kenkyū 平家物語諸本の研究 p. 48; Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 536, 895-6, pl. 407, 934; Kokuritsu kokkai toshokan shozō kichōsho kaidai 国立国会図書館所蔵貴重書解題, vol. 2, p. 30.