Author/compiler: Unknown, but Kanaya Heiemon is believed to have been compiler as well as publisher. Illustrator: Not stated, but attributed to ŌMORI Yoshikiyo 大森義清. Imprint: Rakuyō [Kyōto] , Kanaya Heiemon, Genroku 16, 1703. Kango on last fold of maki 15 ends: 元禄十六癸未載正月吉祥日 ／ 寺町通二条下ル二町目 ／ 洛陽繪本書肆 金屋平右衛門板. (But see notes on Edition below.) Preface is lacking from this copy. Description: 15 kan, 12 Jō 帖. 26.4 x 18.1 cm. (each half-fold). Orihon. Blockprint. Printing frame (height) 21.5-22.2 cm. Single-line borders with rounded corners surrounding each full-page fold (mihiraki). Short captions and notes in hiragana-majiri, with printed furigana, above and around each illustration. Original dark blue covers overprinted with faint designs of grasses, now badly rubbed. Original printed title slips in centre bearing gedai: Hōei 寶永 (tsunogaki above) Karaku saikenzu 花洛細見圖. No naidai or preface. In a box. Edition: Despite the kango quoted above, dated Genroku 16 (1703), it is clear from the tsunogaki Hōei at head of gedai, as well as from a reference to the date Hōei 2 宝永二年 on the third fold of maki 10, that this edition cannot have been published earlier than Hōei 2, 1705. The present copy lacks a preface, but both Kokusho sōmokuroku 国書総目録 and the catalogue by Takagi Toshita quoted under References below refer to a preface dated Genroku 17 (1704), which further invalidates the 1703 date. It must be presumed that the kango was printed in readiness for publication in 1703, but that publication was delayed until c. Hōei 2, 1705. Contents: A series of folding albums depicting scenes on the above subjects, with brief descriptive notes. On the last complete fold, preceding the kango, is a publisher's advertisement for other illustrated books headed: Fūryū ehon deki no bun 風流繪本出來之分.
Karaku saikenzu 花洛細見圖 [花洛細見図]
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or.65.c.4
- Dates of Creation
- 1703
- Language of Material
- Japanese
- Physical Description
- 12 volumes Condition: Good, apart from soiled fore-edges of leaves and rubbed covers. All maki repaired by urauchi. Impression: An early impression, shozuri or near, sharp and clear. Illustrations: Double-page sumizuri woodcuts of high quality on every fold, illustrating temples, palaces, festivals, ceremonies and scenes of daily life in and around Kyōto. Name of artist not given, but the work is reliably attributed to Ōmori Yoshikiyo. Seals of ownership: None.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Acquired from William Anderson, 13 Feb. 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 10. Geography and topography 地理・地誌 a. Regional geography and topography 地方地誌
Bibliography
Kazō Nihon chishi mokuroku 家蔵日本地誌目録, vol. 1, p. 134; Block printing and book illustration in Japan, pp. 54-5; Tenri toshokan kisho mokuroku 天理図書館稀書目録, vol. 2, p. 74.