Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [mid-Keichō period, c. 1605-10]. No colophon. Description: 1 kan, 1 satsu (incomplete, lacking one or two leaves at beginning and possibly also at end). ff. [35] , unnumbered. 27.3 x 19.7 cm. Fukurotoji. Movable type. Printing frame 22.5 x 17.9 cm. No borders. No printed hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with manuscript furigana in a few places. 11 lines to page, 18-19 characters to line. Renewed mid-blue covers, old but not original, ornamented with landscape and plant designs in silver paint. New endpapers. No title slip, gedai or naidai. Title supplied from title slip on modern chitsu case. Edition: With a movable type edition of Fushimi tokiwa 伏見常磐 (ex-Yasuda Bunko), this is one of only two known examples of mai no hon printed from movable type, with illustrations, in the Keichō period. Kawase puts the date of publication at Keichō 11 (1606) or earlier. It is not known whether these mai no hon 舞の本 were published singly or as part of the complete set of 36. Typographically, there is a resemblance to publications in the Kōetsu style, and this edition may well have preceded and influenced the production of Saga-bon 嵯峨本. Contents: One of the 36 mai no hon (kōwaka bukyoku) telling the story, derived from Konjaku monogatari 今昔物語, of Tada no Manjū 多田の満仲 and his conversion to Buddhism.
Manjū 滿仲 [満仲]
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or.64.b.26
- Dates of Creation
- [1605-1610]
- Language of Material
- Japanese
- Physical Description
- 1 volume Condition: Fair. As well as missing folios at beginning and end, some text-matter is mutilated on ff. [1a] , [6b] and [10b] . Book repaired by urauchi throughout. Impression: Somewhat lacking in clarity and sharpness. Illustrations: A tanroku-bon 丹緑本 containing hand-coloured sumizuri illustrations on ff. [2b] , [4b] , [7a] , [12b] , [15b] , [17b] , [19a] , [20b] , [24a] , [28a] , [30b] and [33a] . Hand-colouring, applied later than the date of printing, includes vermilion, mauve-pink, green and blue-grey. A notable book in the history of book illustration, in that it predates the woodcuts (also in yamatoe style) in the Saga-bon Ise monogatari 嵯峨本伊勢物語 of 1608. Seals of ownership: Small square red seal, Seikei shooku 青谿書屋 (library of Ōshima Masatarō 大島雅太郎) pasted on front cover. Oblong red seal, Obama-shi zōsho 小汀氏藏書 (library of Obama Toshie) on first and last pages of text.
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 8. Literature - poetry 国文-詩歌 a. Kōwaka (Mai no hon) 幸若 (舞の本)
Bibliography
Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 5, p. 548; Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 401, 596-7, pl. 368; Kōwaka bukyokushū 幸若舞曲集, pp. 97-113; Kōbunsō kohanpon mokuroku 弘文荘古版本目録, p. 212.