Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: N.p., [Suminokura Soan 角倉素庵 ? ] , Keichō 15, 1610. Dated kango reads: 抑京極黄門一本之奥書云此物語 ／ 之根源古人之説 不同云 故去慶 ／ 長戊申仲夏之比中院也足軒素然 ／ 以天福年所被与孫女本正之幷加畫 ／ 圖巻中之趣分以爲上下行于世矣 ／ 今亦以其印本正之再令流布世而已 ／ 慶長庚戌盂夏日. Description: 2 kan, formerly in 2 satsu, now rebound in 1 vol. (western style). Folios unnumbered. 26.5 x 19.5 cm. Fukurotoji. Movable type. Printing frame 22.5 x 16 cm. No borders. No printed hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with many kana linked in twos and threes by ligatures. 9 lines to page, 16-18 characters to line. Original pale peach-coloured front cover of maki 上 only, now badly rubbed, treated with gofun. Original blockprinted title slip on left. Gedai: Ise monogatari jō 伊勢物語上 (in gyōsho). No naidai. Modern half-leather binding, western style. Edition: Saga-bon, printed and published two years after the first Saga edition of Ise monogatari. In general, all versions of the Keichō 15 (1610) edition were based on that of Keichō 13 (1608), but the text was printed from newly-cut type and the illustrations from newly engraved blocks. The calligraphic style deriving from Kōetsu 光悦 suffered some distortion in the process. Contents: A collection of lyrical episodes, combining prose and waka poetry, composed in the mid-10th century by an unknown author of the Imperial Court. Formerly attributed to the 9th century poet Ariwara no Narihira 在原業平.
Ise monogatari 伊勢物語
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or.64.c.38
- Dates of Creation
- 1610
- Language of Material
- Japanese
- Physical Description
- 1 volume Condition: Good. Free of worm damage. Some folios slightly soiled at lower fore-edge. Stains on first folio of maki 上 and 下. Impression: Clear and sharp for the most part, but showing some signs of type wear. Illustrations: A total of 49 sumizuri woodcuts, 25 in maki 上 and 24 in maki 下, in yamatoe style. This is the earliest work of classical Japanese literature to contain printed illustrations. Seals of ownership: Square red seal on label on front cover, cancelled in red, reading: Aoki in 青木印, seal of Aoki Nobutora 青木信寅.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Acquired from Ernest M. Satow, 22 Sept. 1884.
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 a. Early monogatari 古物語.
Bibliography
Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 1, pp. 153-6; Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 430-40, 855; Sagabon zukō 嵯峨本図考, pp. 23-41, pl. 7-27; Hōsho yoroku 訪書余録, vol. 6, pl. 27 (1-3).