Isoho Monogatori, I

Abstract

The three volumes of this set are a facsimile reingraving of the 1659 Haseda Daigaku Toshokan copy of Aesop's fables. The imprint reads Ito San'emon, Manji 2. It is done in Oriental style on double leaves in a heavier paper casing bound by thread. I count some 23 double pages in this volume, which seems to me to present the life of Aesop. There are five illustrations in this volume. The first is easily recognizable as the story of Aesop voluntarily throwing up to prove that he did not eat stolen figs. After second and third illustrations that remain uncertain for me, there is a fourth in which Aesop seems to cover horses' heads. In a fifth, he is pursued by soldiers. Could this be the Delphi episode which saw him killed? Lovely work, and I am delighted to include it in the collection! There is a loose insert at the beginning of the volume, perhaps an advertisement.