Variant title: Togi-bōko 伽婢子. Author/compiler: Asai Ryōi 淺井了意, also known as Hyōsuishi Shōun 瓢水子松雲 , d. 1691. Imprint: [Kyōto] , Nishizawa Tahē, Kanbun 6, 1666. Kanki on fol 26b of maki 13 reads: 寛文六丙午暦三月吉日 ／ 書林 ／ 西澤太兵衛開板. Description: 13 kan, 13 satsu, in a chitsu case. (Maki 1) ff. 4 (2 prefaces), 1-4 (目録), 5-24 (本文); (2) ff. 22; (3) ff. 31; (4) ff. 25; (5) ff. 21; (6) ff. 29; (7) ff. 29; (8) ff. 30; (9) ff. 23; (10) ff. 24; (11) ff. 28; (12) ff. 26; (13) ff. 26. 26.8 x 17.6 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 22.4 x 16.5 cm. (average). Single-line borders. Single fishtail design (chiefly white) on hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with printed furigana and kutōten. 12 lines to page, 24-26 characters to line. Original mid-blue covers, with original printed title slips on left. Gedai: title in kana, をとぎばうこ, and in kanji, 御伽婢子, on alternate satsu. Naidai at head of preface, mokuroku and each maki: Togi-bōko 伽婢子. Hashiragaki: 伽子 + maki no. + folio no. Edition: Earliest edition of this work, followed by two others in Genroku 12 (1699) and Bunsei 9 (1826), each differing textually from the first edition. Contents: A collection of 68 tales of mystery and the supernatural, the earliest of its kind in Japan. Generally classed as a kana-zōshi. The stories are drawn from Chinese collections such as Jiandeng xinhua 剪燈新話 and Jiandeng yuhua 剪燈餘話, translated and adapted by the compiler, as well as from traditional Japanese tales. First preface dated Kanbun 6 (1666) and signed Hyōsuishi Shōun 瓢水子松雲 (i. e. Asai Ryōi). Second preface in kanbun, signed by Unshō 雲樵.
Otogi-bōko 御伽婢子
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 16107.c.45
- Dates of Creation
- 1666
- Language of Material
- Japanese
- Physical Description
- 13 volumes Condition: Fair to good. Some soiled and stained folios, and minor worm damage, chiefly in upper margins. Impression: Atozuri, from moderately worn blocks. Illustrations: A total of 60 double-page and 48 single-page sumizuri woodcuts, distributed as follows: (maki 1) 4 double, 1 single, (2) 4 double, (3) 5 double, 8 single, (4) 4 double, 3 single, (5) 3 double, 2 single, (6) 7 double, 4 single, (7) 5 double, 3 single, (8) 8 double, 2 single, (9) 4 double, 4 single, (10) 5 double, 3 single, (11) 6 double, 4 single, (12) 3 double, 6 single, (13) 2 double, 8 single. Illustrator not named, but attributed to Yoshida Hanbē 吉田半兵衞. Seals of ownership: None.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Acquired from Kōbunsō, 14 April 1958.
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 f.Kana-zōshi 仮名草子
Bibliography
Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 1, p. 501; Edo bungaku zuroku 江戸文学図録, p. 7, pl. 20-1; text reprinted in Kinsei bungei sōsho 近世文芸叢書, vol. 3.