Mugonshō 無言抄

Author/compiler: Ōgo 應其, Shingon monk, also known as Mokujiki Shōnin 木食上人, 1536-1608. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [mid-Keichō period, c. 1605-10] . No colophon. Date in the final batsu, Keichō 8 (1603), is not a kanki and does not refer to the date of publication. This batsu ends: 慶長八年正月十四日 ／ 木食奥山上人應其 御判. Description: 2 kan (of 3), 2 satsu, now rebound in 1 vol. western style. Incomplete copy, lacking maki 中. (Maki 上) ff. [77]; (maki 下) ff. [76] . Folios unnumbered. 26.7 x 19.8 cm. Fukurotoji. Movable type. Printing frame 21.5 x 17.5 cm. No borders. No printed hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, without furigana or reading marks. 11 lines to page, 19 characters to line. Original mid-brown front cover of maki 上 only. No title slip. Manuscript gedai in sōsho, c. Kan'ei period or earlier: 無言抄 上. Title from naidai at head of each maki. In a western style half-leather binding. Edition: The second of two undated movable type editions of Keichō period. The last 3 folios of the work contain four closing notes (batsu), detailing the stages in compiling, revising and completing the work for publication. They comprise: (a) blockprinted batsu signed by [Satomura 里村] Jōha 紹巴, reviser of the text, dated Keichō 3, 1598; (b) similar batsu, also blockprinted, signed by Kūjō Hō-shinnō 空性法親王, also dated Keichō 3; (c) short batsu by Jōha, dated Keichō 4; (d) batsu written by the author, Ōgo 應其, dated Keichō 8 (1603). Contents: A collection of words and phrases suitable for use in composing renga 連歌 poetry, grouped in various categories, with rules governing the composition of renga.

Unrestricted

Acquired from Ernest M. Satow, 22 Sept. 1884.

Kenneth Gardner, Descriptive Catalogue of Japanese books in the British Library printed before 1700 (London and Tenri, 1993). C. Japanese works 和書 7. Literature - poetry 国文-詩歌 c. Renga 連歌

Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 5, p. 664; Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 558-9, 904-5, pl. 468; Iwasaki bunko wakanjo mokuroku 岩崎文庫和漢書目録, p. 51.