Kibune no honji きふねの本地

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

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Or.75.g.9
  • Dates of Creation
    • [1652-1658]
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 1 volume Condition: Good, apart from brown stains in maki 上 and 下. Lower part of each folio reinforced by urauchi patching with old paper from a manuscript. Impression: Atozuri from slightly worn blocks. Illustrations: Double- and single-page sumizuri woodcuts on ff. 3b-4a, 8b and 11b-12a of maki 上, on ff. 1b-2a, 4b and 14b-15a of maki 中, and on ff. 8b-9a, 14b and 18b-19a of maki 下. Seals of ownership: Oblong red seal of Sir Ernest Satow, 英國薩道藏書, on first page of each maki. Small oblong red seal, Kōbundō 好文堂, on first and last pages of each maki. Oblong red seal, Inanoya zōsho 稲廼舎藏書 (seal of Kusada Tariho 日下田足穂) on first page of maki 上. Oblong red seal, Momoi bunko 百井文庫 (seal of Momoi Tamehira 百井爲衡) and square red seal, Nanpo bunko 南畝文庫 (seal of Ōta Nanpo 大田南畝 ), on first page of each maki. Square red seal, Momoi 百井, printed inkoku on last page of each maki. Manuscript notes: Some kutōten and dakuten added in red throughout the text.

Scope and Content

Alternative reading of title: Kifune no honji. Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: N. p., n.d. [c. Jōō / Meireki 承応・明暦 period, 1652-1658]. No colophon. Description: 3 kan, formerly in 3 satsu, now rebound in 1 vol. western style. (上) ff. 14; (中) ff. 16; (下) ff. 19. 251 x 171 mm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 209-214 x 155 mm. Single-line borders all round. No fishtail design on hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with some printed dakuten but no furigana. 10 lines to page, 18-19 characters to line. Renewed front cover of maki 上 only, pale blue with design of random lines in red and blue, dating from early Meiji. Renewed title slip with manuscript gedai: 貴船の本地 上. Title from naidai at head of each maki. Hashiragaki: Kifune きふね jō 上 (chu 中, ge 下) + folio no. In a western style half-leather binding. Edition: Apparently the only pre-Meiji printed edition. Contents: An otogi-zōshi-type story dating from early Muromachi period or before, telling of the quest of a chūjō, Sadahira 定平, for the hand of Tatsunyo 龍女, daughter of the king of the Land of Demons, who was later reincarnated as tutelary deity of the Kibune shrine. Buddhist, Shinto and Confucian elements are combined in this story, which draws on various existing sources.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired from William Anderson, 21 March 1894.

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. 2, p. 159; Nihon bungaku shoshi 日本文学書誌, p. 677; Tenri toshokan kisho mokuroku 天理図書館稀書目録, vol. 3, p. 386; text reprinted in Muromachi jidai monogatari taisei 室町時代物語大成, vol. 4, pp. 69-92.