Taiheiki 太平記

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

  • Reference
    • GB 59 16049.b.8
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1697
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 2 volumes Condition: Good. No worm damage and little soiling. Impression: Poor. Atozuri, from badly worn blocks. Illustrations: Single- and double-page sumizuri woodcuts, 4 or 5 to each maki, distributed throughout the work. Tobira-e on inner front cover, depicting a phoenix and kirin, partially hand-coloured, and giving additional information on imprint as follows: 元禄十丁丑歳陽復吉日 ／ 難波津書林文言堂版. Seals of ownership: Square red seal, Kagesada 景定, on last page of each former satsu.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Unknown. Imprint: Ōsaka, Honda (or Homuta) Iemon, Genroku 10, 1697. Kanki following batsu at end of maki 40 reads: 元禄十丁丑歳十一月吉日 ／ 攝城大坂心齋橋筋 ／ 書肆 保武多伊右衛門梓. Description: 40 kan preceded by introductory maki containing preface and Tsurugi no maki 劍巻, formerly in 11 satsu, now rebound in 2 vols. western style. Each maki begins with a 1-folio mokuroku 目録. 12.6 x 18.7 cm. (oblong format 横本 ). Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 11.4 x 17.5 cm. Single-line borders. Single fishtail design on hanshin. Hiragana-majiri text, with printed furigana, dakuten and kutōten. 20 lines to page, variable no. of characters to line. Original dark blue front covers of satsu 1 and 7 only. Original central title slips (fragments only in the case of satsu 1) with printed gedai: 太平記. Title from naidai at head of each maki. Hashiragaki: Taiheiki 太平記 + maki no. + folio no. In a western style half-leather binding. Edition: Many blockprinted editions of Taiheiki, both katakana-majiri and hiragana-majiri, were issued in the 17th century, but the present edition of Genroku 10 was the first to contain illustrations. Contents: A quasi-historical chronicle (gunki monogatari 軍記物語) recounting the troubled history of conflict between the Northern and Southern Courts, 1318-67. Embellished with tales from Buddhist mythology and the Chinese classics. Completed c. 1370.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired from Alexander von Siebold, 22 July 1968.

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 d. Gunki monogatari 軍記物語

Bibliography

Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 4, pp. 105-11; Nihon bungaku daijiten 日本文学大辞典, vol. 4, p. 433.