Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [Genna or Kan'ei period, c. 1615-40, or earlier] . No colophon. Description: 1 kan, 1 satsu, ff. 24. 26.6 x 18.9 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 22.1 x 17.6 cm. Single-line borders, with 'flower petal' fishtail design on hanshin, around text-matter and illustrations. Hiragana-majiri text, without furigana. Two lines of 5-syllable Chinese verse (gogon zekku 五言絶句) at head of section on each folio. 9 lines to page, 16-18 characters to line. Original blue covers, badly rubbed, with original blockprinted title slip. Gedai: Nijūshi kō 二十四孝. Hashiragaki: as gedai + folio no. Edition: This blockprinted edition is clearly a kabusebori modelled on the Saga-bon movable type edition. However it is printed on thin plain paper, lacking the gofun-loading, multi-coloured paper and mica ornamentation of the Saga-bon edition. Contents: A Japanese version, variously classed as otogi-zōshi, kana-zōshi and kyōkun, of a Chinese original, 全相二十四孝詩選, attributed to Guo Jujing (元) 郭居敬, describing 24 examples of filial piety from Chinese history. This popular version, expressed in simple Japanese, was included in the original collection of 23 otogi-zōshi.
Nijūshi kō 二十四孝
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or.74.cc.6
- Dates of Creation
- [1615-1640]
- Language of Material
- Japanese
- Physical Description
- 1 volume Condition: Fair to good. Some brown staining. Impression: Atozuri, from slightly worn blocks. Illustrations: 24 sumizuri woodcuts occupying the upper one-third of each folio recto. In primitive style, showing traces of Chinese influence. Crude hand-colouring (brown and red) on all woodcuts. Seals of ownership: Red seal with double border, Wakabayashi 若林, and square red seal, Shunwadō zō 春和堂蔵 (seal of Wakabayashi Masaharu 若林正治), both on first page recto.
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).C. Japanese works 和書 5. Literature - fiction 国文-小説 e. Muromachi jidai monogatari 室町時代物語
Bibliography
Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 4, p. 593; Saga-bon zukō 嵯峨本図考, pp. 87-9, pl. 49; Iwasaki bunko kichōbon sōkan, kinsei hen 岩崎文庫貴重本叢刊•近世篇, vol. 1, pp. 437-61 (facsimile reproduction of Saga-bon in Tōyō Bunko).