Author/compiler: Unknown, but attributed by some to Nijō Yoshimoto 二條良基. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [Keichō / Genna period, c. 1605-20] . No colophon. Description: 17 kan, 6 satsu. Folios unnumbered. 28.5 x 20.9 cm. Fukurotoji. Movable type. Printing frame 23 x 17.5 cm. No borders. No printed hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text without furigana or reading marks. 12 lines to page, 20 characters to line. Original black covers, faintly embossed with a floral and geometric design. Original printed title slips with gedai in (hentai) hiragana: ますか み + satsu number. No naidai. In a modern brocade chitsu case. Edition: The only early and approximately datable edition of this work. Uniform edition with Ōkagami 大鏡 and Mizukagami 水鏡, also datable to Keichō / Genna period and printed from a similar font of type. Contents: Historical narrative (rekishi monogatari 歴史物語) covering the period from Emperor Go-Toba's birth in 1180 to Go-Daigo's return from exile in 1333. It deals in an elegant prose style with the conflicts between the imperial court and the ruling military government in Kamakura, beginning with the Jōkyū war (承久の乱) of 1221 and closing with the Kenmu Restoration (建武中興) of Go-Daigo.
Masukagami 増鏡
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or.64.b.23
- Dates of Creation
- [1605-1620]
- Language of Material
- Japanese
- Physical Description
- 6 volumes Condition: Excellent. Worm holes negligible. Impression: A clean impression. Seals of ownership: Red oblong seal, Obama-shi zōsho 小汀氏藏書 (library of Obama Toshie) on first page of each satsu. Blue oblong seal, Shōsha Minamoto no Tadafusa 尚舎源忠房, followed by small oval red seal, Bunko 文庫, on final page of each satsu. This refers to the daimyō and book collector Matsudaira Tadafusa 松平忠房, commandant of Fukuchiyama castle in Tanba province.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Acquired from Kōbunsō, 15 March 1974.
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 5. Literature - fiction 国文-小説 c. Rekishi monogatari 歴史物語
Bibliography
Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 5, p. 520; Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 531, 894, pl 397; Daitōkyū kinen bunko kichōsho kaidai 大東急記念文庫貴重書解題, vol. 3, p. 56; Kōbunsō kohanpon mokuroku 弘文荘古版本目録, p. 206.