Honchō ōin hiji 本朝櫻陰比事 [本朝桜陰比事]

  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 59 Or.75.ff.15
  • Dates of Creation
      1689
  • Language of Material
      Japanese
  • Physical Description
      1 volume Condition: Good, apart from minor worm damage in maki 1, 2, 3 and 5 (in margins only) and slight water staining in maki 2 and 5. Impression: Reasonably sharp and clear, but showing distinct signs of block wear.. Slightly atozuri. Illustrations: Single- and double-page sumizuri illustrations in: (maki 1) ff. 3b-4a, 10b-11a, 18a, 22b-23a; (maki 2) ff. 4b-5a, 10a, 14b-15a, 19a; (maki 3) ff. 3b-4a, 8a, 11b-12a, 16a, 19b-20a; (maki 4) ff. 3b-4a, 9a, 12b-13a, 17a, 21b-22a; (maki 5) ff. 3b-4a, 8a, 13b, 17b-18a. Unsigned, but in the style of Yoshida Hanbē. Seals of ownership: 4 red seals on first page (mokuroku) of maki 1, 3, 4 and 5, and on first text-page of maki 2: (1) oblong seal, Sōbaien 叢梅園; (2) circular seal, Yamazaki Shōtō ? 山崎小嶋; (3) oblong seal (not deciphered possibly beginning 梅君); (4) square seal, overprinted by seal (3) above, 有□氏藏書印.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Ihara Saikaku 井原西鶴, 1642-93. Imprint: Ōsaka, Kashiwara Seiemon; Edo, Yorozuya Seibē, Genroku 2, 1689 [date of first edition. The present (second) edition was probably printed in Kyōhō period, c. 1720-25, retaining the original Genroku date.] Kanki reads: 元禄二年己正月吉日 / 江戸日本橋青物町 / 萬屋清兵衛 / 大坂心齋橋筋順慶町 / 柏原清右衛門. Description: Original (?) pale yellow front cover of maki 1 only, with original title slip bearing printed gedai: E-iri (tsunogaki) honchō ōin hiji 繪入 (角書) 本朝櫻陰比事. In a western style half-cloth binding. Edition: Second edition, printed in early 18th century from the same blocks as the first edition of Genroku 2 (1689), but with the name and address of the original publisher, Kariganeya Shōzaemon 鴈金屋庄左衞門, erased and with Kashiwara Seiemon's name and address substituted. This second edition is distinguishable from the first by (a) kanki, (b) covers, (c) subheading following title on daisen, and (d) having 23 folios instead of 24 in maki 2. Date of first edition, Genroku 2, is reprinted in the second (and third) editions. Contents: A collection of 44 tales of law cases, drawn from sources such as kana-zōshi, kyōgen and oral traditions. Title is modelled on the Chinese collection Tangyin bishi 棠陰比事, but the locale of Saikaku's work is exclusively Kyōto. An ukiyo-zōshi novel.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired from S. M. Franck, 16 April 1901.

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 g. Ukiyo-zōshi 浮世草子

Bibliography

Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 5, pp. 482-3; Saikaku 西鶴, p. 139, pl. 365-9; Daitōkyū kinen bunko kichōsho kaidai 大東急記念文庫貴重書解題, vol. 3, p. 76.