Kamo no Chōmei hōjōki 鴨長明方丈記

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

  • Reference
    • GB 59 16055.c.41
  • Dates of Creation
    • [1688-1704]
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 1 volume Condition: Fair. Worm damage to ff. 1-9. Top corner gnawed by mice. Impression: Atozuri, from badly worn blocks. Seals of ownership: Oblong red seal, Okada Tadashi no zōsho 岡田眞之藏書, at top of first page.

Scope and Content

Variant title: Hōjōki 方丈記. Author/compiler: Kamo no Chōmei 鴨長明, 1155-1216. Imprint: Kyōto, Katsumura Jiemon, n.d. [c. Genroku period, 1688-1704 ?] . Kanki on fol. 25b reads: 京師書林 ／ 寺町松原下ル丁 ／ 勝村治右衛門. Description: 1 kan, 1 satsu, in a chitsu case. ff. 25. 25.9 x 18.4 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame varies between 19.8 and 21.4 x 16.6 cm. Single-line borders. No fishtail design or frame to hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with printed furigana, dakuten and kutōten. 9 lines to page, 17-20 characters to line. Original dark blue covers, embossed with a lattice and floral design. Original printed title slip on left, with gedai: 鴨長明方丈記 全. No naidai. Hashiragaki: Hōjōki 方丈記 + folio no. Edition: The first and only blockprinted edition (without commentary or illustrations) was published in Shōhō 4 正保四年 (1647). This was followed by an undated edition with kanki erased, and by the present undated edition when the blocks were acquired by Katsumura Jiemon 勝村治右衞門. The earliest of Katsumura's publications appears to be datable to Genroku 元禄 period, so it is unlikely that the present edition was published earlier than 1688. Contents: Plain text of Hōjōki 方丈記, Kamo no Chōmei's short zuihitsu work on the ephemeral quality of life and the vanity of human endeavours, written in 1212 at Chōmei's solitary hut.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired by purchase, 8 Sept. 1959.

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 6.Literature - prose 国文-散文 b.Zuihitsu 随筆

Bibliography

Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 5, p. 429; Kanpon hōjōki shoshi 刊本方丈記書史 (Appendix to Hōjōki shoshō taisei 方丈記諸抄大成), pp. 5-6.