Shibahō 司馬法

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

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Or.81.c.17
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1606
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 1 volume Condition: Good, apart from some worm damage in maki 中 and 下. Impression: Mostly clear and sharp, but type shows some signs of wear. Seals of ownership: None.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [Fushimi, Keichō 11,1606] . No colophon. For dating, see below. Description: 3 kan (上, 中, 下), combined in 1 satsu. (上) ff. 7; (中) ff. 4; (下) ff. 4. 27.9 x 19.6 cm. Fukurotoji. Movable type. Printing frame 22 x 16.3 cm. Double-line borders, with 'flower petal' fishtail design on hanshin. Vertical rules between columns of type. Kanbun text without kunten or other reading marks. 8 lines to page, 17 characters to line. Chestnut-brown covers, old but not original. Traces of earlier printed title slips (from another book ?) on both front and back (!) covers. Title from naidai. Hashiragaki: Shiba jō 司馬 上 (chū 中, ge 下) + folio no. Edition: Fushimi-ban 伏見版, printed at Fushimi by order of Tokugawa Ieyasu. One of the seven works comprising the Shichisho 七書 (Chinese: Qishu) in 4 satsu, printed at Fushimi (Kyōto) in Keichō 11, 1606. (Satsu 2 contained Shibahō and Utsuryōshi 尉繚子 together.). Contents: A Chinese work of military science, Simafa 司馬法, dating probably from the Han period.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired from Gyokueidō, 15 May 1979.

Other Finding Aids

Kenneth Gardner, Descriptive Catalogue of Japanese books in the British Library printed before 1700 (London and Tenri, 1993). A. Chinese works 漢籍 11. Military science 兵法

Bibliography

Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 217-8, 697-9; Ryūmon bunko zenpon shomoku 竜門文庫善本書目, pp. 175-6; Takagi bunko kokatsuji-ban mokuroku 高木文庫古活字版目録, p. 60; Keiō gijuku toshokan-zō wakanjo zenpon kaidai 慶応義塾図書館蔵和漢書善本解題, p. 131.