Jinkōki 塵劫記

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

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Or.75.f.24
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1634
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 2 volumes Condition: Poor. Front cover and first 3 folios of satsu 1 damaged by a large hole. Most folios water-stained, some severely. Worm damage in maki 1-2. Impression: Atozuri. Illustrations: See no. 592 above. Wider range of subjects illustrated in maki 3-4. Seals of ownership: None. Manuscript notes: Notes in cursive script on subject matter of book, on mikaeshi of both satsu.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Yoshida Mitsuyoshi 吉田光由, 1598-1672. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [Kan'ei 11, 1634-see under Edition below] . No colophon. Description: 4 kan, 2 satsu. (Maki 1) ff. 38; (2) ff. 40; (3) ff. 36; (4) ff. 35. 19.7 x 14.2 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame variable between 14.5 and 15.5 x 12.5 cm. Thick single-line borders round almost all pages (unlike no. 592 above, which has fewer borders.) No fishtail design on hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text with printed furigana in places. Variable no. of lines to page, but in most cases 10; 18-22 characters to line. Dark blue covers, probably original, with damaged title slips. Manuscript gedai still visible on satsu 2: 塵劫記 三 (四). Naidai at head of mokuroku 目録 of each maki: ちんこうき. Hashiragaki on narrow hanshin: Jin 塵 + maki no. + folio no. In a modern silk brocade chitsu case. Edition: Another variant of the small-format edition published by the author himself in Kan'ei 11 (1634), which originally had a preface in Japanese (as distinct from kanbun) at the head of maki 1. This preface is missing from the present copy; also missing are the endnote following maki 4 and the author's kanki. The present copy is otherwise complete in 4 kan, containing 63 sections (jō 条), but it differs sufficiently from Or 75.f.25 to establish beyond doubt that it is a further (and probably later) variant of the Kan'ei 11 (1634) edition. It differs most markedly in having no colour printing in red; but there are also differences in hanshiki indicating a distinct variant edition printed from re-cut blocks. Contents: The second earliest extant work on traditional Japanese mathematics (Warizansho 割算書 by Mōri Shigeyoshi 毛利重能 preceding it by a few years). The many published editions of this work testify to its wide popularity and influence in the Edo period.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired at Santo Koten Rengōkai 三都古典連合会 auction sale, through Rinrōkaku Shoten, 29 July 1964.

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 14. Physical sciences 自然科学 a. Mathematics 数学

Bibliography

Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 3, p. 461; Ryūmon bunko zenpon shomoku 竜門文庫善本書目, p. 138; Ogura bunko mokuroku 小倉文庫目録, pp. 1-2; Jinkōki no kenkyū, zuroku hen 塵劫記の研究・図録編, pp. 217-35 and passim; Meiji-zen Nihon sūgakushi 明治前日本数学史, vol. 1, pp. 192-202; Kan'ei-ban jinkōki no ruihan 寛永版塵劫記の類版, in Shoshigaku 書誌学, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 18-24.