Soga monogatari 曾我物語

Archive Unit
  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 59 16052.f.2
  • Dates of Creation
      1646
  • Language of Material
      Japanese
  • Physical Description
      12 volumes Condition: Generally good. No worm damage, but some folios water-stained and others soiled at lower edges. Red colour from some tanroku illustrations (but not all) offset on opposite page. Impression: An early impression, sharp and clear for the most part. Illustrations: 95 sumizuri woodcut illustrations, simple and unsophisticated in style, in the manner of early 17th century kana-zōshi illustrations, but appealing. A tanroku-bon, hand-coloured in red and green. The folios containing woodcuts, each printed on recto and verso of the same sheet, are not separately numbered but carry the number of preceding folio followed by mata 又. The pictures are distributed as follows: (maki 1) 11, (2) 8, (3) 8, (4) 8, (5) 9, (6) 8, (7) 8, (8) 7, (9) 11, (10) 6, (11) 5, (12) 6. Seals of ownership: None.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: [Kyōto] , Yasuda Jūbē, Shōhō, 3, 1646. Kanki on fol. 21b of maki 12 reads: 正保三年正月吉祥日 ／ 誓願寺前安田十兵衞開板. Description: 12 kan, 12 satsu, in a box. (1) ff. 63; (2) ff. 42; (3) ff. 38; (4) ff. 43; (5) ff. 55; (6) ff. 41; (7) ff. 43.5; (8) ff. 44; (9) ff. 44; (10) ff. 29.5; (11) ff. 25; (12) ff. 26.5. 27.8 x 18.4 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 21.1-21.4 x 16.9 cm. Single-line borders. No fishtail design on hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with printed furigana, dakuten and kutōten. 12 lines to page, variable no. of characters to line. Original vermilion covers, surface cracked but still serviceable, embossed with a rhomboid and floral design. Original printed title slips with gedai: Soga monogatari 曽か物語. Title from naidai. Hashiragaki: Soga 曽我 + maki no. + folio no. Edition: Second blockprinted edition of Soga monogatari, following five movable type editions and the first blockprint of Kan'ei 4 (1627), which was also published by Yasuda Jūbē. Contents: A medieval prose narrative on the theme of revenge, based on the revenge exacted by the Soga brothers on Kudō Suketsune for the murder of their father.

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

Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 4, pp. 39-41.