Soga monogatari 曾我物語

  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 59 16052.f.8
  • Dates of Creation
      1663
  • Language of Material
      Japanese
  • Physical Description
      4 volumes Condition: Distinctly poor. Many folios stained and torn, but only minor worm damage. Most of mokuroku 目録 at head of maki 4 torn out. Impression: Atozuri, from badly worn blocks. Illustrations: Copiously illustrated with 123 single- and double-page sumizuri woodcuts, some printed on facing pages, some on recto and verso of the same sheet. The pictures are distributed as follows: (maki 1) 12 pictures, (2) 14 pictures, (3) 9 pictures, (4) 10 pictures, (5) 14 pictures, (6) 10 pictures, (7) 13 pictures, (8) 8 pictures, (9) 12 pictures, (10) 7 pictures, (11) 8 pictures, (12) 6 pictures. Seals of ownership: None. But the signature of a former owner appears on the back endpaper of each of the 4 satsu, in the form: 松田所持.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: [Kyōto ?] , Inoue Gonnojō, Yamamoto Chōbē, Kanbun 3, 1663. Kanki on fol. 19b of maki 12 reads: 寛文癸卯仲夏吉辰 / 井上權之烝 / 山本長兵衛. Description: 12 kan, 4 satsu (3 kan to each satsu), in a box. (Maki 1) ff. 56; (2) ff. 37; (3) ff. 30; (4) ff. 36; (5) ff. 47; (6) ff. 34; (7) ff. 36; (8) ff. 36; (9) ff. 35; (10) ff. 24; (11) ff. 21; (12) ff. 20. 24.9 x 17.1 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 22.5 x 16.5 cm. Single-line borders, including fore-edge (hanshin) of illustrations but not of text pages. No fishtail design on hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with printed dakuten and kutōten. 13 lines to page, variable no. of characters to line. Dark brown covers, renewed c. mid-Edo period, with faintly embossed rhomboid design. Renewed yellow title slips with manuscript gedai: 曽我物語. Title from naidai. Hashiragaki: Soga monogatari 曽我物語 + maki no. + folio no. Edition: A late impression, printed on thin paper of poor quality, of the second blockprinted edition of Soga monogatari. 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.