Honchō ikō 本朝醫考 [本朝医考]

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

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Or.59.b.3
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1663
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 1 volume Condition: Very good. Few worm holes, skilfully repaired. Impression: An early impression, shozuri or near. Seals of ownership: Oblong red seal, Yōan'in zōsho 養安院蔵書, ex-libris of the Manase 曲直瀨 family of physicians of the Edo period. Yōan'in 養安院 was the honorific name (gō) awarded to Manase Shōrin 曲直瀨正琳 (1565-1611) by Emperor Go-Yōzei in 1600, and adopted by successive generations of the Manase family.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Kurokawa Dōyū 黒川道祐, also known as Bairin 梅林, d. 1691. Imprint: [Kyōto] , Tawara Nizaemon, n.d. (preface dated Kanbun 3 寛文三年, 1663). Kanki on fol. 28b of maki 下 reads: 二條通鶴屋町田原仁左衛門刻. Description: 3 kan, formerly in 3 satsu, now rebound in 1 vol. western style. (Maki 上) ff. 26; (中) ff. 38; (下) ff. 28. 26.2 x 17.4 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 20.9 x 14.8 cm. Double-line borders with fishtail design on hanshin. Kanbun text with printed okurigana and kaeriten. 12 lines to page, 18 characters to line. Original vermilion front cover only, embossed with a geometric rhomboid pattern. No title slip or gedai. Title from naidai. Hashiragaki: Ikō jō (chū, ge) 醫考上 (中, 下) + folio no. In a western style half-leather binding. Edition: The only recorded pre-modern edition of this work. Contents: The earliest work on the history of medicine in Japan. Maki 上 and 中 contain brief biographies of eminent physicians from ancient times to the beginning of the 17th century. Maki 下 lists categories of products of the various provinces used in medical prescriptions.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired from Alexander von Siebold, 22 July 1868.

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 15. Medicine 医学

Bibliography

Kinsei kanpō igakusho shūsei 近世漢方医学書集成, vol. 40, pp. 5-188 (facsimile reproduction of text of this edition).