Kanninki 堪忍記

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

  • Reference
    • GB 59 16107.h.14
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1664
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 1 volume Condition: Good, apart from some soiled lower corners and minor worm damage in margins. Impression: Atozuri, from badly worn blocks. Illustrations: A total of 47 single-page sumizuri woodcuts, distributed as follows: (maki 1) 6; (2) 8; (3) 5; (4) 7; (5) 5; (6) 4; (7) 5; (8) 7. Seals of ownership: None, unless a small oval red stamp (undeciphered) on first and last pages, denotes ownership.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Asai Ryōi 淺井了意, d. 1691. Imprint: [Kyōto] , Minoya Hikobē, n.d. [later reprint of Kanbun 4 寛文四年 (1664) edition] . Publisher's name on fol. 23b of maki 8 reads: 書肆美濃屋彦兵衞繡梓. See under Edition below. Description: 8 kan, formerly in 4 satsu, now rebound in 1 satsu, Japanese style. In a chitsu case. 27 x 18.9 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 22.5 x 17.1 cm. (average). Single-line borders. No fishtail design on hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with printed furigana, dakuten and kutōten. 13 lines to page, 24-28 characters to line. Renewed thick blue covers with remains of painted design of grasses and cloud bands. Original printed title slip of satsu 1 pasted centrally on renewed front cover. Gedai: 堪忍記巻一. Title from preface, mokurokudai and naidai at head of text of each maki. Hashiragaki: Kanninki 堪忍記 + maki no. + folio no. Edition: The second edition, of which this copy is a later reprint by Minoya Hikobē, was published at Kyōto in Kanbun 4 (1664). Another reprint of the same 1664 edition was issued by Urokogataya at Edo in Kanbun 11 (1671). Comparison with reproductions from both editions indicates that the present copy is an undated later reprint, with kanki erased, of the Kyōto edition of Kanbun 4 (1664). Contents: A didactic kana-zōshi work on the virtues of patience under suffering and in human relationships generally, as exemplified in stories from early Chinese and Japanese literature.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired from Rinrōkaku, 14 Jan. 1969.

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. 2, p. 84; Kana-zōshi 仮名草子 vol. 2, p. 13.