Meitokuki 明德記 [明徳記]

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

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Or.59.b.32
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1624
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 1 volume Condition: Very good, apart from slight worming at end of maki 中 and damaged final leaf of maki 下 (repaired). Impression: Clear and sharp for the most part. Seals of ownership: Oblong red seals of Sir Ernest Satow (usual seal) and Hachiunken 八雲軒 (inkoku 陰刻), seal of Wakizaka Yasumoto 脇坂安元, on first page of each maki. Also three large red seals, the first two inkoku, on the last text-page of each maki: (1) Wakizaka-shi Awaji-no-kami 脇坂氏淡路守; (2) Tōkō 藤亨; (3) Yasumoto 安元: all three are seals used by Wakizaka Yasumoto. In maki 下 these seals precede the batsu on fol. 23 verso.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: N.p., Kan'ei 1, 1624. Kanki on fol. 23b of maki 下 reads: 于時寛永元甲子歳仲夏下旬 開板 [之] . This kanki follows a batsu which is common to the three editions published in Keichō 19 (1614), Genna 3 (1617) and Kan'ei 1 (1624). The kanki does not necessarily denote the date of printing of the present copy (see under Edition below). Description: 3 kan, 3 satsu, bound in 1 vol. (western style). (Maki 上) ff. 21; (中) ff. 29; (下) ff. 23. 27.8 x 20.5 cm. Fukurotoji. Movable type. Printing frame 23.2 x 18 cm. Double-line borders, with 'flower petal' fishtail design on hanshin. Katakana-majiri text without furigana or punctuation. 12 lines to page, 24-26 characters to line. Original dark brown front cover of maki 上 only, within a modern western style half-leather binding. Handwritten title slip (late-Edo period) on left. Title from naidai. Gedai and naidai identical. Hashiragaki: Meitokuki jō 明德記上 (chū 中, ge 下) + folio no. Edition: A movable type edition differing from the three described in Kokatsujiban no kenkyū, pp. 586-7. The third edition is dated Kan'ei 1 (1624) with the same kanki as this copy but that edition contains 71 ff. (BL copy 73 ff.), 13 lines to the page (BL copy 12 lines), with single-line borders.. It is therefore a variant of the 1624 edition. Contents: A war narrative (senki monogatari 戦記物語) describing the revolt of Yamana Ujikiyo 山名氏清 (Meitoku no ran 明徳の乱), quelled by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1391, and its aftermath.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired from Ernest M. Satow, 22 Sept. 1884.

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 9. History and biography 歴史・伝記 b. Senki monogatari, including history of specific periods and campaigns 戦記物語 (時代史を含む)

Bibliography

Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 408, 490, 586-7, 927; Nihon rekishi daijiten 日本歴史大辞典, vol. 18, p. 74; Nihon bungaku shoshi 日本文学書誌K, vol. 4, p. 23; Daitōkyū kinen bunko kichōsho kaidai 大東急記念文庫貴重書解題, vol. 3, p. 178.