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16055.b.1
- Record Id:
- 032-003903345
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-003903345
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100122040705.0x000001
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- 16055.b.1
- Title:
- Genji monogatari 源氏物語
- Scope & Content:
-
Author/compiler: Murasaki Shikibu 紫式部, fl. late 10th early 11th century. Batsu 跋 written by Yamamoto Shunshō 山本春正, 1610-82, who is also credited with editing this edition.
Imprint: N.p., n.d. (batsu dated Keian 3, 1650). No colophon. Last line of batsu in kanbun on ff. 19-20 of maki 54 reads: 慶安三年仲冬蓬衡蕞品山氏春正謹跋.
Description: 60 kan (6 + 54), formerly in 60 satsu, now rebound in 7 vols. western style. Maki 1-3, meyasu 目案 in iroha order; maki 4, keizu 系図, genealogical tables; maki 5, hikiuta 引歌, poems contained in Genji monogatari; maki 6, text of Yamaji no tsuyu 山路の露; maki 7-60 (1-54), 本文 main text of novel. 26.3 x 18.5 cm. Fukurotoji.
Blockprint. Printing frame 20.6 x 16.2 cm. No borders, except round illustrations. No vertical rules or fishtail design on hanshin.
Hiragana-majiri text, with a few furigana, some interlinear kanji, and dakuten and kutōten. 11 lines to page, 22 characters to line.
Original dark blue front covers of maki 1 (目案), maki 1 (きりつぼ), maki 11, 22, 34, 41, 49. Original centrally-placed title slips, hand-lettered with title of each chapter in elegant script. Gedai of maki 1: 源氏目案上. No naidai. Hashiragaki: chapter title + folio no. In a modern western style half-leather binding.
Edition: The first blockprinted edition, and the earliest to contain illustrations. Based on an undated movable type edition of mid-Kan'ei period. Preceded also by movable type editions of Keichō period and of Genna 9, 1623.
Contents: Arguably the first great novel in world literature. Written wholly or in part by the court lady Murasaki Shikibu in the early years of the 11th century, concerning the life and loves of Prince Genji.
- Collection Area:
- Oriental Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Japanese woodblock materials
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "032-003903345", "parent" : "#", "text" : "16055.b.1: Genji monogatari 源氏物語" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-003903345
- Is part of:
- not applicable
- Hierarchy:
- 032-003903345
- Container:
- not applicable
- Record Type (Level):
- Fonds
- Extent:
- 7 volumes
- Digitised Content:
- Languages:
- Japanese
- Scripts:
- Japanese
- Start Date:
- 1650
- End Date:
- 1650
- Date Range:
- 1650
- Era:
- CE
- Place of Origin:
- Japan
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Condition: Excellent. A clean copy, free from stains or soiling, with only minimal worm damage in margin of last maki.
Impression: An early impression, printed from unworn blocks.
Illustrations: Copiously illustrated with sumizuri woodcuts, mostly single-page, in good quality Tosa style, the number varying between 5 and 12 in each maki. This edition contains a total of 226 illustrations, all of which are reproduced, with descriptive captions, in 'Japanese woodcut book illustrations', vol. 2, pp. 11-248 (see References below).
Seals of ownership: Oblong red seal of Sir Ernest Satow (his small seal), 英國薩道藏書, on blank leaves inserted between maki 41 and 42, 47 and 48, and possibly elsewhere.
- Source of Acquisition:
- Donated by (Sir) Ernest M. Satow 13 June 1885.
- 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 a. Early monogatari 古物語
- Publications:
- Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 2, pp. 406-37; Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, p. 513; Kokan Genji monogatari shomoku 古刊源氏物語書目, p. 33; Japanese woodcut book illustrations, vol. 2, pp. 1-248.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)
- Names:
- Satow, Ernest Mason, GCMG, 1843-1929