Author/compiler: Bai Juyi 白居易,772-846. Imprint: N.p., Enpō 5, 1677 (date at end of batsubun in maki 5, signed by Ekitei 易亭). Batsubun reads as follows: 延寶五年仲秋望日 ／ 西郊易亭主人跋. Description: 5 kan, 5 satsu. (1) ff. 28; (2) ff. 27; (3) ff. 27; (4) ff. 20; (5) ff. 11, 22. 29.4 x 20.6 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 23 x 16 cm. No borders, except around illustrations. Printed hanshin containing maki and folio nos. only. Kanbun and hiragana-majiri text, with a few furigana printed in katakana, and some dakuten. 8 lines to page, 16-18 characters to line. Original covers of soft, thick paper, creamy-white, overprinted with a decorative floral design in blue mica. Text paper (tōshi) and covers treated with gofun. Central title slips marbled in green, pink and blue. Hand-lettered gedai: Chōgonka zushō 長恨歌圖鈔. No naidai. Modern blue chitsu case. Edition: Assuming that the batsubun date (Enpō 5, 1677) is also the date of publication, this appears to be the earliest 5-kan edition of this work printed in hiragana-majiri. It follows the brief 1-kan hiragana-majiri edition of Genna / Kan'ei period and the four 1-kan katakana-majiri editions printed with movable type in Keichō-Kan'ei periods. It is also the first substantial illustrated edition. Contents: A selection of 7-syllable poems by Bai Juyi, each with brief elucidation and commentary in Japanese by an unknown author.
Chōgonka zushō 長恨歌圖鈔 [長恨歌図抄]
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- Dates of Creation1677
- Language of MaterialJapanese
- Physical Description5 volumes Condition: Fair to good. Some worm damage in maki 1, 3 and 5. Most folios split along fore-edge, giving impression of single sheets printed on one side only. Impression: Shozuri. Beautifully printed from a fine calligraphic hanshita. Illustrations: A total of 35 double-page sumizuri illustrations in Chinese style: 16 in maki 1, 20 in maki 2, 18 in maki 3, 12 in maki 4 and 2 in maki 5. All illustrations have been tastefully hand-coloured, possibly in mid-Edo period. Seals of ownership: Round red seal within two concentric red circles, Kaku 覺, on first page of maki 1 and last page of maki 5.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Acquired from Shibunkaku, 28 Dec. 1967.
Other Finding Aids
Kenneth Gardner, Descriptive Catalogue of Japanese books in the British Library printed before 1700 (London and Tenri, 1993). A. Chinese works 漢籍 7. Chinese literature 中国文学
Bibliography
Naikaku bunko kokusho bunrui mokuroku 内閣文庫国書分類目録, p. 1141; Chōgonka biwakō shō shohon no kokugogaku-teki kenkyū 長恨歌・琵琶行抄諸本の国語学的研究, pp. 753-1045 (facsimile reproduction of the present copy).