Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: Kyōto, Kanbun 2, 1662. [Note that this is a much later impression from the blocks of Kanbun 2, with publisher's name omitted.] Kanki on last folio of maki 6 reads: 寛文二年壬寅八月吉日 ／ 洛陽書林. Description: 6 kan, 6 satsu, in a box. (1) ff. 16; (2) ff. 17; (3) ff. 20; (4) ff. 17; (5) ff. 19; (6) ff. 20. 25.9 x 18 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 21.2 x 16.9 cm. (average). Single-line borders. No fishtail design on hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with printed furigana. 10 lines to page, c. 19 characters to line. Original dull olive-green covers, with original printed title slips. Gedai: 淺井物かたり (maki 1-3) and 阿さ井物語 (maki 4-6). Title from naidai at head of each maki. Hashiragaki: Asai 淺井 + maki no. + folio no. Edition: The only pre-modern edition appears to be that of Kanbun 2, 1662. This was published by Maruya Shōzaburō 丸屋床三郎 but for printing the present copy (at a later date) the blocks must have been acquired by a different publisher, whose name does not appear in the kanki. Contents: A kana-zōshi work on the life and exploits of Asai Sukemasa 淺井亮政, 1495-1546. The same subject is treated at greater length in Asai sandaiki 淺井三代記. The present work covers material in maki 1-5 (of 15) of Asai sandaiki, published in Genroku 2, 1689.
Asai monogatari 淺井物語 [浅井物語]
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 16052.f.16
- Dates of Creation
- 1662
- Language of Material
- Japanese
- Physical Description
- 6 volumes Condition: Good, apart from a few stained and soiled folios. Impression: Atozuri, from badly worn blocks. Illustrations: A total of 20 single-page and 8 double-page sumizuri illustrations, distributed as follows: (maki 1) 3 single, 1 double; (maki 2) 5 single; (maki 3) 1 single, 3 double; (maki 4) 4 single, 1 double; (maki 5) 4 single, 1 double; (maki 6) 3 single, 2 double. Two of the pictures in maki 1 are crudely daubed with red. Seals of ownership: None. A kashihon'ya stamp, Kikyōya 桔梗屋, is impressed on the mikaeshi of each maki.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Acquired from Richard 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. 1, p. 35; Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, p. 21; Kana-zōshi shuūsei 仮名草子集成, vol. 1, pp. 89-151, 504-7.