Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: N.p., Hangi Genzaemon, Kanbun 5, 1665. Kanki on fol. 37a of maki 下 reads: 寛文五乙巳年三月日 板木源左衛門開板. Description: 2 kan, 2 satsu, in a box. (Maki 上) ff. [1] (single-page woodcut), 1-9, 10 / 18, 19-38; (maki 下) ff. [1] (mokuroku + frontispiece), 1-9, 10 / 17, 18-37. 22 x 15.5 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame varies between 17.4 and 18.2 x 13 cm. Single-line borders. No fishtail design on hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, without furigana but with some printed marks to indicate actors' lines and directions for chanting. 10 lines to page, c. 20-23 characters to line. Original mid-blue covers, with damaged yellow title slips (printed ?) on left. Gedai: Kyōgenki 狂言記. Naidai at head of maki 上 and 下: Kyōgen-zukushi 狂言盡. Title from mokurokudai. Hashiragaki: Kyōgen jō i 狂言上 (ge 下) + folio no. Edition: The only recorded 2-kan edition of this work. All others are in 5 kan. Contents: Belongs to the first series of printed texts of kyōgen plays, of which the earliest edition was published in 5 kan in Manji 3 (1660). There were four series in all , known collectively as Kyōgenki 狂言記, most of them containing 50 plays each. The present edition, however, contains only 11 plays.
Kyōgenki 狂言記
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 16107.e.34
- Dates of Creation
- 1665
- Language of Material
- Japanese
- Physical Description
- 2 volumes Condition: Very good. Clean and undamaged. Impression: Atozuri from slightly worn blocks. Illustrations: 11 single-page sumizuri illustrations, 6 in maki 上 and 5 in maki 下. Artist not identified, but the style of drawing and composition is much superior to the pictures in 16107.e.16 (Genroku 13 edition, 1700), depicting scenes from each of the kyōgen plays contained in the work, watched by members of the audience. Seals of ownership: None.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Transferred from the British Museum (ex-Richard Lane) in 1973.
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 8. Literature - poetry 国文-詩歌 c. Kyōgen 狂言
Bibliography
Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 2, p. 192; Descriptive catalogue of Japanese and Chinese illustrated books in the Ryerson Library of the Art Institute of Chicago , pp. 55-6.