Antique Edo Japanese handwritten manuscript set - Gokoku Onna Taiheiki, Yanagisawa scandal, 1857, 14 books

Gokoku Onna Taiheiki is an antique Japanese handwritten manuscript set from the late Edo period, copied in Ansei 4 / 1857.

Title: Gokoku Onna Taiheiki
Type: handwritten Japanese manuscript set
Period: late Edo period, Ansei 4 / 1857
Format: 14 handwritten manuscript books preserved together in an old outer paper wrapper
Contents: volumes 1-3 and 5-15; volume 4 is not present
Genre: jitsuroku fiction - Edo-period historical scandal narrative
Subject: Yanagisawa scandal, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu

This is a handwritten manuscript set, not a printed edition. The set consists of 14 separate manuscript books, preserved together in an old outer wrapper. The wrapper has an old title label reading Gokoku Onna Taiheiki with a note indicating “all volumes”. The actual present contents are listed separately: volumes 1-3 and 5-15; volume 4 is not present.

Gokoku Onna Taiheiki is a known Edo-period jitsuroku text connected with the so-called Yanagisawa scandal. It is not an official historical chronicle, but a historical narrative built around political scandal, succession rumors, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, and his influential favorite Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu.

The bibliographic importance of the work is supported by major Japanese reference sources and institutional collections. Waseda University Library records Gokoku Onna Taiheiki as a manuscript text belonging to Edo-period fiction and jitsuroku literature. Kokusho / National Institute of Japanese Literature records manuscript copies of this work in several major collections. The National Diet Library Reference Collaborative Database and Heibonsha reference sources describe Gokoku Onna Taiheiki as one of the developed jitsuroku-style narratives connected with the Yanagisawa scandal.

The main interest of this set is its manuscript character and its preservation as an old collected group of books. Such manuscript sets are evidence of Edo-period private book culture, in which historical narratives, scandal literature, and popular accounts circulated in handwritten form before and alongside later printed editions.

Condition

Antique condition. Natural age-related wear is present, including paper toning, signs of time to the cover and edges, and general handling wear consistent with an authentic old Japanese manuscript book. The outer wrapper shows visible age-related wear and handling marks. Please review the photos carefully.

Size

Size approx.: 16 x 23 cm.

Shipping

Safe and tracked shipping from Latvia. Protective packaging.

For US buyers

This item enters the United States duty-free.