Tadasu monogatari 糺物語

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

  • Reference
    • GB 59 16107.g.20
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1677
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 1 volume Condition: Excellent. Impression: Clear and sharp for the most part, but in places atozuri from moderately worn blocks. Illustrations: 9 single-page sumizuri woodcuts in the style of Moronobu (and possibly attributable to him) on ff. 3a, 7a, 11a, 18a, 22a, 30a, 36a and 40a. Seals of ownership: None.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Nisshin 日心, monk of Nichiren sect, fl. Meireki period (1655-58). Imprint: N.p., n.d. [Edo, Urokogataya, Enpō 5, 1677.] No printed kanki (see under Edition below). Nevertheless, this copy may well be of the Enpō 5 edition, as the following kanki has been added in manuscript on fol. 44b: 延寶五丁巳孟春吉旦 ／ 江戸大傳馬三町目 ／ 鱗形屋板行. Description: 3 kan (上, 中 and 下), 1 satsu, bound in 1 vol. Japanese style. ff. 44 (continuous foliation). 25.4 x 8.3 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 22.1 x 17 cm. (average). Single-line borders. No fishtail design on hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with printed furigana. 15 lines to page, 24-28 characters to line. Renewed mid-blue covers with embossed design. Lower half of printed title slip remains, bearing gedai: 糺物語. (The upper half may possibly have completed the alternative title, Hokke anjin Tadasu monogatari 法華安心糺物語.) Title from naidai at head of all 3 kan. Hashiragaki: Mono jō (chū, ge) 物上 (中, T 下) + folio no. In a modern chitsu case. Edition: Uncertain, but possibly a later reprint of the Enpō 5 (1677) edition. In this copy an oblong strip (presumably with date of publication) has been cut out from fol. 44b and a new strip inserted, with handwritten date Enpō 5. The rest of the kanki quoted under Imprint above is also handwritten, below the inserted date. Early editions of this work were published in Meireki 3 (1657), Manji 3 (1660), Enpō 5 (1677), Hōei 3 (1706) and An'ei 6 (1777). Contents: A didactic kana-zōshi story extolling the merits of Nichiren Buddhism and the efficacy of the Lotus Sutra, with numerous quotations from it.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired from Rishard Lane, 19 Nov. 1956.

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. 4, p. 160; Nihon bungaku shoshi 日本文学書誌K, vol. 5, (上) p. 18.