Haku-shi monjū 白氏文集

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

  • Reference
    • GB 59 ORB 30/202
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1618
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 4 volumes Condition: A good, clean copy with only minor worm damage (unrepaired) here and there in margins. Impression: Sharp and clear, from little-worn type. Seals of ownership: Square red seal, Asano Genji gomanganrō tosho no ki 淺野源氏五萬巻樓圖書之記 (seal of Asano Nagayoshi 淺野長祚) and oblong red seal, Ryūgen zōsho 龍源藏書, on first page of each former satsu.

Scope and Content

Alternative reading of title: Haku-shi bunshū. Author/compiler: Bai Juyi 白居易, 772-846. Imprint: Rakuchū 洛中 [Kyōto] , Nawa Dōen 那波道圓, n.d. [Genna 4, 1618] . Dated batsu on last two lines of final folio reads: 戊午秋七月丁亥朔那波道圓書于 / 洛中遠望臺. Description: 71 kan, formerly in 30 satsu, now rebound in 4 vols. western style. Maki 1 preceded by preface 白氏長慶集序 and list of contents (8 folios), and maki 71 followed by 後序 (3 folios), ending with kanki quoted above. 28.4 x 20.5 cm. Fukurotoji. Movable type. Printing frame 23.4-23.6 x 17.2-17.4 cm. Double-line borders all round. Vertical rules between columns. 'Flower petal' fishtail design on hanshin. Kanbun text, without kunten or reading marks. 9 lines to page, 16 characters to line. Dark grey-brown front cover of satsu 1 only, with sparse painted design of cherry blossoms in silver (mid-Edo period). Hand-lettered title slip ornamented with horizontal silver bands (also mid-Edo period), bearing gedai in glossy black ink: Haku-shi monjū 1-2 白氏文集自一至二. Hashiragaki: Hakushū 白集 + maki no. + folio no. In a western style half-leather binding. Edition: The only movable type edition of this work, edited and published (see batsubun above) by Nawa Dōen 那波道圓. Haku-shi monjū 白氏文集 had previously been published in Korea with bronze movable type in 成化二十一年, 1485. Contents: Collected poems of the celebrated Tang poet Bai Juyi 白居易, comprising the Bai-shi changqingji 白氏長慶集 in 50 kan and the houji 後集 in 20 kan, with prefaces dated 長慶四年 (824) and 太和二年 (828) respectively.

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). A. Chinese works 漢籍 7. Chinese literature 中国文学

Bibliography

Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 169, 361, 392, 835, pl. 241; Yonezawa zenpon no kenkyū to kaidai 米沢善本の研究と解題, p. 156, pl. 11; Zushoryō tenseki kaidai, kanseki hen 図書寮典籍解題・漢籍篇, pp. 99-100; Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 5, p. 51.