Tsuzoku Isoppu monogatari 通俗伊蘇譜物語

Dimension: 8 3/4 x 6 in.

English title: A Popular Version of Aesop’s Fables

Date: ca. 1875

Scenes of Aesop’s fables including Androcles, the bear and two travelers, city mouse and country mouse, the farmer and the viper, and the wild boar and fox. The first Western text to be published in Japanese was Fabulas do Esopo, or Aesop’s Fables. First printed in 1593 by the Jesuit priests who brought these moralistic tales to the Japanese people, Aesop’s fables were popular with all levels of society. Kirishitan-related publications were banned a few years later, but the universal themes and innocuous animals slipped past the censors – in fact, it was the only work brought by Christian missionaries to do so.1 This particular edition of Aesop’s Fables was printed in 1875, two years after the ban on Christianity was lifted. Only two of the original six volumes are extant, however they contain many tales familiar to Western audiences. Susie Anderson 1 J. S. A. Elisonas, “Fables and Imitations: Kirishitan Literature in the Forest of Simple Letters,” Bulletin of Portuguese/Japanese Studies 4: 14. Other: Appears to be the same as those at the British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=779049&partid=1&output=People%2F!!%2FOR%2F!!%2F146216%2F!%2F146216-2-59%2F!%2FPrint+artist+Kawanabe+Kyosai+(%E6%B2%B3%E9%8D%8B%E6%9A%81%E6%96%8E)%2F!%2F%2F!!%2F%2F!!!%2F&orig=%2Fresearch%2Fsearch_the_collection_database%2Fadvanced_search.aspx&currentPage=3&numpages=10, opens in a new window