Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: N.p., Genna 7, 1621 [or Genna 9, 1623 see Edition below] . Batsu printed in gyōsho on a separate leaf following last printed page of maki 12 reads: 此平家物語一方撿挍衆以數 ／ 人之吟味改字證加點多句讀 ／ 元和七孟夏下旬令開板畢 ／ 或人曰庶幾記其姓名云 故 ／ 今準之而已. Description: 12 kan, formerly in 12 satsu, now rebound in 2 vols. western style. 1-page mokuroku 目録 at head of each maki. 26.2 x 18.5 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 22.5-23.1 x 17.4 cm. Double-line borders. 'Flower petal' fishtail design on hanshin. Katakana-majiri text, with printed furigana and kutōten. 12 lines to page, 22-27 characters to line. Renewed front covers (Edo period) of satsu 1 and 7 only, each with manuscript gedai on new title slips: 平家物語一 (等). Title from naidai. Hashiragaki: Heike 平家 + maki no. + folio no. In a modern western style half-leather binding. Edition: The earliest known blockprinted edition of this work, revised for publication and supplied with kutōten (see batsu quoted above) by Sugita Ryōan 杉田良庵 (Gen'yo 玄與). 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.6
- Dates of Creation1621
- Language of MaterialJapanese
- Physical Description2 volumes Condition: Good. Entirely free from worm damage, but some brown stains in maki 2, 4, 7 and 12. Cropped at upper edge. Impression: Atozuri, from blocks showing some signs of wear. Seals of ownership: Oblong red seal of Sir Ernest Satow, 英國薩道藏書, on first page of each maki. Manuscript notes: Maki 1 contains shubiki and printed kutōten hand-coloured in red. 1 page of notes on manuscript and printed copies of Heike monogatari at end of maki 11.
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. Also Heike monogatari shohon no kenkyū 平家物語諸本の研究, p. 52; Tenri toshokan kisho mokuroku 天理図書館稀書目録, vol. 3, pp. 143-4.