Aki no kuni Itsukushima shōkeizu 安藝國嚴島勝景圖 [安芸国厳島勝景図]

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

  • Reference
    • GB 59 16116.e.5
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1689
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 1 volume Condition: Generally good. Minor worm damage (repaired) and some folios soiled at lower corners. Impression: Shozuri or near. Illustrations: A panoramic view of Itsukushima, carefully coloured by hand, extending over 5 complete folds. Preceded by 3 folds of large calligraphic kanji (daiji 題字). Seals of ownership: None.

Scope and Content

Variant title: Aki no kuni itsukushima kiji 安藝國嚴島記事 [安芸国厳島記事]. Author/compiler: Text by Kaibara Ekiken 貝原益軒, named Atsunobu 篤信, 1630-1714. Imprint: Kyōto, Ryūshiken Ibaraki (=Ogawa 小川) Tazaemon, n.d. [c. Kyōhō period, 1716-36 ?] . (Ekiken's text is dated Genroku 2 (1689) and ends as follows: 元禄二年三月日貝原篤信書.). Description: 1 kan, 1 jō 帖, in a box. 71 / 2 folds (illustrations), 5 folds (text). 30.9 x 16.5 cm. Orihon. Blockprint. Printing frame (height) 23.7 cm. Single-line borders. Hiragana-majiri text with printed furigana. 10 lines to each half-fold, 20-24 characters to line. Original pale-buff covers, in poor condition, with original printed title slip, centrally placed, in an ornamental frame. Title from gedai, which reads: 安藝國嚴島勝景圖. No naidai, except in the form Aki no kuni Itsukushima kiji 安藝國嚴島記事 at head of Ekiken's text. Edition: A publisher's announcement printed on yellow paper, pasted on the inner back cover of the present copy, gives information about Fusō meishōzu 扶桑名勝圖 publoshed in Kyōhō 11 (1726). It seems probable that the present copy was published in the Kyōhō period, possibly Kyōhō 16 (1731). Contents: An illustrated guide to Itsukushima (Miyajima 宮島), its Shinto shrines and topography. Descriptive text by Kaibara Ekiken entitled Aki no kuni Itsukushima kiji 安藝國嚴島記事.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Source and date of acquisition unknown.

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 10.Geography and topography 地理・地誌 a.Regional geography and topography 地方地誌

Bibliography

Catalogue of Japanese illustrated books in the Spencer Collection of the New York Public Library, p. 101; Kazō Nihon chishi mokuroku 家蔵日本地誌目録, vol. 1, p. 696.