Heike monogatari 平家物語

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

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Or.75.e.8
  • Dates of Creation
    • [1600-1615]
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 1 volume Condition: Excellent. No worm damage. Brown stain on first two folios only. Impression: Mostly sharp and clear, but with some evidence of type wear. Seals of ownership: Red seal within a dōtaku 銅鐸 (bell-shaped) frame, Manshu tosho no in 曼殊圖書之印 (seal of the Manshuin 曼殊院, Kyōto), on first page (目録) of each former satsu.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [Keichō period, c. 1600-15] . No colophon. Description: Incomplete copy, comprising maki 1, 3-7 and 9-12 only (of 12 kan). Formerly in 10 satsu, now rebound in 1 vol. western style. (Maki 1) ff. , 45; (maki 3) ff. [1] , 47; (4) ff. [1] , 46; (5) ff. [1] , 41; (6) ff. [1] , 32; (7) ff. [1] , 43; (9) ff. [1] , 56; (10) ff. [1] , 45; (11) ff. [1] , 47; (12) ff. [1] , 45. 27.5 x 19.9 cm. Fukurotoji. Movable type. Printing frame 22.8-23.3 x 17.4 cm. Single-line borders all round. Fishtail design on hanshin, with printed hashiragaki. Katakana-majiri text, without printed furigana or reading marks. 12 lines to page, 20-23 characters to line. Original mid-brown front cover of satsu 1 only, with renewed title slip placed centrally. Manuscript gedai: 平家物語. Title from naidai. Hashiragaki: Heike 平家 + maki no. + folio no. In a modern western style half-leather binding. Edition: A 12-line katakana-majiri movable type edition. 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.

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

Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, p. 535 and pl. 404. Also Daitōkyū kinen bunko kichōsho kaidai 大東急記念文庫貴重書解題, vol. 3, p. 62.