Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: N.p., Meireki 2, 1656. Kanki following brief kango on fol. 54a of maki 12 reads: 明暦貳年丙申九月吉日 ／ 霜月吉日. Description: 12 kan, 12 satsu, in a box. (1) ff. 44; (2) ff. 51; (3) ff. 46; (4) ff. 45; (5) ff. 41; (6) ff. 35; (7) ff. 43; (8) ff. 36; (9) ff. 56; (10) ff. 48; (11) ff. 50; (12) ff. 54. 26.1 x 18 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 22.1-22.5 x 16.8 cm. Single-line borders, extending to hanshin of illustrations but not of text pages. No fishtail design on hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with printed dakuten, kutōten and some furigana. 13 lines to page, variable no. of characters to line. Renewed bright yellow covers, embossed with a geometric diagonal design. Renewed title slips, contemporary with covers, with manuscript gedai: 平家物語. Title from naidai. Hashiragaki: Heike 平家 + maki no. + folio no. Edition: The earliest edition of Heike monogatari to contain illustrations. Preceded by numerous movable type and blockprinted editions, of which those published in Kan'ei 3 (1626) and Shōhō 3 (1646) were the earliest blockprints printed in hiragana-majiri script. The present edition contains a 1-line kango (maki 12, fol. 54a), indicating that it belongs to the Ippō-ryū 一方流 group of texts, reading as follows: 此平家物語一方撿校衆吟味令開板之者也. This kango is reprinted from earlier editions of mid-Genna and Kan'ei 1. Contents: Greatest of the war tales (gunki monogatari 軍記物語), dealing with the heyday of the Taira family (1160-80) and the wars between the Taira and Minamoto clans (1180-85), ending in the crushing defeat of the Taira (Heike 平家). Probably written by a court noble in the early 13th century, though the original source material is uncertain. The work is permeated throughout by Buddhist doctrines of the impermanence of human life and activity.
Heike monogatari 平家物語
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 16052.f.19
- Dates of Creation
- 1656
- Language of Material
- Japanese
- Physical Description
- 12 volumes Condition: Generally good, apart from worm damage in maki 1 and 3, a few soiled folios and damp-stains in places. Printed text of ff. 32-34 in maki 1, and of ff. 1-2 in maki 12, missing and replaced in manuscript (different hands, the former earlier than the latter). Impression: A fairly sharp impression, but blocks show unmistakable signs of wear. Illustrations: This edition contains a total of 181 sumizuri illustrations, each printed on recto and verso of the same sheet, distributed as follows: (maki 1) 13, (2) 15, (3) 15, (4) 13, (5) 13, (6) 12, (7) 18, (8) 12, (9) 21, (10) 13, (11) 20, (12) 16. Illustrations are not individually numbered, but carry the number of the preceding folio followed by mata 又. The illustrations differ in subject matter and number from those in the Enpō 5 (1677) edition. Seals of ownership: None.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Acquired by purchase, 29 May 1957.
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 bungaku daijiten 日本文学大辞典, vol. 6, p. 348; Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 5, pp. 390-9; Heike monogatari shohon no kenkyū 平家物語諸本の研究, p. 53.