The Tale of the Genji A Novel in Six Parts

E-096. Good+. Hardcover. Hardcover. 8vo. Published by Houghton Mifflin Co. , Boston, MA. 1935. 1135 pgs. Two volumes in blue cloth presented in original slipcase. First Edition/First Printing. Paper slipcase is worn and chipped along the edges. Bound in cloth boards with titles present to the spine. Boards have shelf-wear present to the extremities (spine is sunned and faded). Notes present to the endpaper and to the text. Binding tight and solid. Murasaki Shikibu, or Lady Murasaki as she is sometimes known in English was a Japanese novelist, poet, and a maid of honor of the imperial court during the Heian period. She is best known as the author of The Tale of Genji, written in Japanese between about 1000 and 1008, one of the earliest and most famous novels in human history. "Murasaki Shikibu" was not her real name; her actual name is unknown, though some scholars have postulated that her given name might have been Takako (for Fujiwara Takako). Her diary states that she was nicknamed "Murasaki" ("purple wisteria blossom") at court, after a character in The Tale of Genji. "Shikibu" refers to her father's position in the Bureau of Ceremony (shikibu-sho). EB; 8vo 8" - 9" tall .