Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: N.p., n.d. No kanki, but this edition is uniform with the katakana-majiri Heiji monogatari 平治物語 (no. 322, q. v.) and printed concurrently with it. The latter is dated Kan'ei 1, 1624, and was published in Kyōto by Gonjūrō 權十郎. Description: 3 kan, 3 satsu, bound in 1 vol. (western-style). (1) ff. 27; (2) ff. 35; (3) ff. 30. 25.6 x 18.3 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 22 x 17.5 cm. Double-line borders, with 'flower petal' fishtail design on hanshin. Katakana-majiri text, with printed furigana and kutōten. 11 lines to page, 22-26 characters to line. Light dusty-pink front cover of satsu 1 only, embossed with a faint paulownia design, dating from late-Edo period. Within a western style half-leather binding. Handwritten title slip at upper left. Gedai and naidai identical. Hashiragaki: Hōgen maki 1 (2, 3) 保元巻一 (二, 三) + folio no. Edition: The first blockprinted edition. 10 undated movable type editions, all but one in hiragana-majiri, were published between Keichō and Kan'ei periods, with 10, 11 and 12 lines to the page. Contents: A semi-historical war tale (gunki monogatari) describing the power struggle for the imperial succession in the Hōgen no ran 保元の乱 of 1156. It focuses on the figure of Minamoto no Tametomo as a tragic hero, and on the bitter internecine strife between members of the same families: Fujiwara, Taira and Minamoto. This work is usually paired with Heiji monogatari (q. v.).
Hōgen monogatari 保元物語
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or.59.d.12
- Dates of Creation
- [1624]
- Language of Material
- Japanese
- Physical Description
- 1 volume Condition: Fair to good. Negligible worm damage. Cropped at top edge, possibly at bottom also. Impression: Type shows signs of wear in places. Seals of ownership: Red oblong seal, Kuchiki bunko 朽木文庫 (seal of Kuchiki Tsunayasu 朽木綱泰) on first page of each maki.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Donated to the British Museum by (Sir) Ernest M. Satow 13 June 1885.
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 d. Gunki monogatari 軍記物語
Bibliography
Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 5, pp. 424-6; Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 539-42; Hōgen monogatari shohon no kenkyū 保元物語諸本の研究, in Heike monogatari shohon no kenkyū, furoku 平家物語諸本の研究・附録, pp. 523-6.