Setsuyōshū 節用集

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

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Or.59.d.17
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1630
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 1 volume Condition: Fair. Many folios split along the fore-edge fold. Ink stain on first folio and water stains along upper margins. Impression: Sharp and clear, shozuri or near. Seals of ownership: Square red seal, Sugiyama bunko 杉山文庫, and larger oblong red seal, Nakagawa-ke zōshoin 中川家藏書印 (seal of Nakagawa Tadahide 中川忠英) on first page of vol. 1. Manuscript notes: 3 lines of notes in an early-Edo hand follow the kanki on the last page.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: N.p., Sugita Ryōan (Gen'yo), Kan'ei 7, 1630. Kanki on fol. 52b of maki 下 reads: 寛永七庚午孟夏吉辰 ／ 令開板之者也 ／ 杉田良菴玄与. Description: 2 kan, 1 satsu, bound in 1 vol. (western style). (上) ff. 41; (下) ff. 52. 26.4 x 19.6 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 23 x 18 cm. Single-line borders. Vertical rules between lines only in maki 下, ff. 43b-52a. No fishtail design on hanshin. Text in kanji (gyōsho / sōsho form), with printed on and kun readings in hiragana. Main headings (in iroha order) and classified subheadings are printed inkoku (white characters on a black ground). 8 lines to page, 16 characters to line. Vermilion front cover, partly oxidised, possibly original, embossed with a design based on small octagons. Oblong title slip on yellow paper in upper centre, with handwritten gedai: 寛永刊節用原本. Title from naidai. Hashiragaki: Setsuyōshū jō 節用集上 (ge 下) + folio no. Edition: One of the many editions issued in the Kan'ei period. Contents: Japanese dictionary compiled in the mid-15th century, reflecting the spoken language of the Muromachi period and showing how kanji are to be written and read. Kanji are arranged in iroha イロハ order, with a uniform classification under each iroha syllable.

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 3. Language 言語 a. Dictionaries and script 辞書・字書

Bibliography

Kojisho no kenkyū 古辞書の研究, pp. 816-23; Kohon setsuyōshū no kenkyū 古本節用集の研究, p. 348.