Manuscript on paper, entitled on first leaf of text "Secret and Truthful Story of the Capture of the Bandits."

39; 41 folding leaves. Two parts in one vol. Large 8vo (277 x 187 mm.), orig. semi-stiff wrappers with orig. manuscript title slip, new stitching. [Japan:] after 1782. The story of the life of Ishikawa Goemon ?????? (1558-94), a legendary bandit of the late "Warring States" period. Historical sources pertaining to Ishikawa’s life are extremely sparse, amounting to only a few mentions of his execution by being boiled in a vat of oil in Kyoto in 1594, on the order of the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The dearth of written sources notwithstanding, in the popular imagination and in artistic expression, Ishikawa became a Robin Hood-like figure who stole in order to give to the poor, and his execution would have been due to his failed attempt to assassinate Hideyoshi. Ishikawa Goemon featured in Kabuki plays of the Edo period. Zokkinhiseidan was never published in the Edo period, circulating only in manuscript form. We find no copy in North America. The earliest known manuscript dates from 1782, and the most recent from 1876. However, other evidence suggests that the book was written as early as before 1776. The contents can be divided into four sections: 1) a discussion of Ishikawa’s ancestors; 2) Ishikawa’s birth in Iga province, his study of ninjutsu, and his travel to Kyoto; 3) his activities as a bandit; 4) Ishikawa breaking into Hideyoshi’s bedroom, his capture and execution by boiling. The authorship of our book is unknown, but there are some clues. Some copies contain a Preface signed "Higashitake Zank? ????," "Takei Zank? ????," or "Zank?, the recluse of T?bu castle" ??????? This has led scholars to speculate that the author might have been Masaki Zank? ????, a known Edo-period storyteller. This conjecture is unproven, however. Very good copy, some thumbing and dampstaining. ? Hosaya Tomoko ????, "Ishikawa Goemon jitsuroku Zokkinhiseidan ni tsuite" ???????????????????, Rikky? daigaku Nihongaku kenky?jo nenp? 8 (2011): pp. 114-22.…