Seijin Kimotsubushi: Kengu Shinbun (The Thunderstruck Sage: The New Culture of the Wise and the Foolish)

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Seijin Kimotsubushi: Kengu Shinbun ["The Thunderstruck Sage: The New Culture of the Wise and the Foolish"]

Mantei, Ōga [text by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Eikyū Bunko, Yamamoto Heikichi ... [et al.], [preface dated Meiji 5 (1872)].

The first series (all published) of a Kyōsai-Ōga work on one of Ōga's favourite themes - the superiority of practical knowledge over theoretical wisdom. Steele (2010) provides the following synopsis of the work: "[The Thunderstruck Sage] features Shunji, the young son of a merchant who deals in Chinese goods. He leaves home to study Confucianism under a well-known teacher. He succeeds in becoming a great scholar, but when he returns, he discovers that he is ill-equipped to deal with the real world. His wife divorces him and his students refuse to listen to him. In the end he abandons scholarship (gakumon), calling it a waste of time, and devotes himself instead to agriculture and commerce". This was one of the few Kyōsai-Ōga works not published by Yamazakiya Seishichi or Tsuruya Kiemon. Two more series were advertised but never published. No physical copies traced in OCLC. 

Parts 1 and 2 of the first series (all published). Two four-hole-bound (yotsumetoji) volumes, complete, on double leaves, traditional East Asian binding style (fukurotoji). Original wrappers somewhat worn and scraped, with a few light stains. Original woodblock-printed daisen title panels present. Occasional minor thumbing, marks, and creases to leaves. 24 leaves (continuously paginated). 18 x 12 cm. 

Seijin Kimotsubushi: Kengu Shinbun (The Thunderstruck Sage: The New Culture of the Wise and the Foolish)
Price: $2,350.00 (USD)