Ominaeshi monogatari 女郎花物語

This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 59 16107.g.30
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1661
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 2 volumes Condition: Fair. Ink and water stains in maki 上; worm damage (unrepaired) in both maki. Impression: Fairly clear and sharp in places, but slightly atozuri for the most part. Illustrations: 19 single-page sumizuri illustrations in all, 9 in maki 上 and 10 in maki 下. Seals of ownership: Oblong red seal of the bookseller and publisher Hishiya Magobē on fol. 41b of maki 下, reading: 京御幸町御池南 ／ 書林菱屋孫兵衛.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Compilation attributed to Kitamura Kigin 北村季吟, using the pseudonym 'Fujiwara-shi no onna [jo, musume] ' 藤原氏女 (at end of batsu), but identity of compiler is uncertain. Imprint: [Kyōto] , Nakano Kozaemon, Manji 4 (=Kanbun 1), 1661. Kanki on fol. 41b of maki 下 reads: 萬治四年辛丑初春吉日 ／ 中野小左衛門板行. Description: 2 kan (of 3), 2 satsu, in a box. Incomplete copy: maki 上 and 下 only (maki 中 missing). (Maki 上) ff. 2 (序), 34; (maki 下) ff. 41. 26.6 x 17.2 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 19 x 13.8 cm. (average). Single-line borders. No fishtail design on hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with printed furigana, dakuten and kutōten. 10 lines to page, 18-22 characters to line. Original blackish-grey covers, with damaged remains of printed title slip on maki 上. Gedai: 女郎花物語. No naidai. Hashiragaki (at lower end of hanshin) : 女上 (下) + folio no. Edition: The only dated edition recorded. An undated edition is known, and Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典 notes an edition published by Akitaya of Ōsaka, undated, with the title (gedai) Waka ominaeshi monogatari 和歌女郎花物語. Contents: A collection of kana-zōshi tales and anecdotes, didactic in purpose, about Japanese women noted for their virtue and for their prowess in writing classical literature, with extracts from their works.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired from Richard Lane, 5 Aug. 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. 517; Katei bunko mokuroku 霞亭文庫目録 p. 30; text reprinted in Kana-zōshi shūsei 仮名草子集成, vol. 8, pp. 55-127, 317-21.