Soseki Natsume's novels of 12 novels are missing. "Cultural heritage ..." February 9, 18:58

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It was found that the location of self-written manuscripts could not be confirmed for twelve works, which are half of the representative novels written by Soseki Natsume. Experts who surveyed point out that the manuscript is a valuable resource that follows the process of the creation of the work and is "irreplaceable and needs to be handed down carefully".

This survey was conducted by Professor Emeritus Kunihiko Nakajima of Waseda University, who has been studying Natsume Soseki.

Examining where Soseki's manuscripts are now stored reveals that it is no longer possible to confirm them in 12 of the 24 major novels, or half of them.

Among them, Botchan was handed over by a man involved in the work of a poet who supported Soseki's writer activity, Kiko Takahama, and a copy was also made.However, the location has been lost due to a change in owner, etc. Was.

"Kusamakura" was photographed about 30 years ago, but its location is unknown.

On the other hand, although "I am a cat" and "Buntori" each have their own handwritten manuscripts in the Literature Museum, etc., there are many missing parts and they are only part of them.

Handwritten manuscripts with traces of writing and correction are valuable materials that trace the process of formation of the work, Professor Emeritus Nakajima said, `` It is an irreplaceable cultural heritage and it is necessary to inherit it carefully as a common property Isn't it? "

The author's breath is written in the autograph manuscript

Professor Emeritus Nakajima pointed out that the importance of self-written manuscripts has been increasing recently, and that research has been increasing to explore the formation process and attractiveness of works by observing self-written manuscripts instead of printed text. This gives the writer a breath of life and a touch of creativity. "

For example, from the manuscript of Soseki's later work "Michikusa", it can be seen that the subheadings that were put once were erased and that the sentences were rewritten several times.

In addition, he says that many words and phrases have furigana, so he can understand the serious nature of Soseki who made every effort to get his readers to understand the work.

Handwritten manuscripts are less useful after being published in newspapers and magazines, and are often left behind by newspaper publishers or publishers or taken home by officials, and then gradually dissipated.

Ryunosuke Akutagawa and Ogai Mori seem to have lost the location of their autographs in more than half of their works.

I do not know the winning bidder at the Internet auction

Handwritten manuscripts are sometimes traded at secondhand bookstores, etc., and they have also become available on Internet auctions. The chances of finding whereabouts have increased, but the dilemma of not knowing who made a successful bid has also arisen.

President Hideaki Kawashima of Hideaki University, who has been collecting materials of modern literary writers for about 40 years, has gathered information through exchanges with used bookstores and experts in various places, and has so far covered Soseki's Koto no Sora sound and Akutagawa Ryunosuke. I got a handwritten manuscript whose location was unknown, such as the "nose".

In recent years, handwritten materials have become available at online auctions, and it is essential to check for new listings.

Last December, he found a letter written by Soseki addressed to his colleagues at work, and was able to bid and purchase it immediately.

On the other hand, in an online auction, the seller and the successful bidder directly contact each other without going through a secondhand bookstore, so that other people cannot track their location.

President Kawashima commented, `` It's an easy and convenient era to click and bid by yourself without going through a used bookstore, but it is an age when the manuscript is increasingly missing because you do not know who bid and who won the bid ".

He added, "Public institutions should share the responsibility of each author and unify the situation of which manuscripts are located where it should be. If an organization that compiles manuscript and letter information is created, the situation should improve."

Deterioration cannot be stopped

One of the reasons why it is urgent to find a handwritten manuscript is the deterioration of the material.

The Tohoku University Library in Sendai has a collection of materials called "Soseki Bunko", and there are approximately 900 Soseki's self-written materials such as manuscripts, notebooks and memos.

However, more than 100 years have passed since Soseki's death, and the deterioration of the materials has progressed. Corrosion of the paper due to oxidation of the ink has caused holes in the manuscript paper, and the paper has faded, making characters difficult to read.

At that time, depending on the library, Western paper was used instead of washi, which could be mass-produced, but the quality and materials were worse and the deterioration was more likely to occur than washi.

The library has therefore decided to digitize all handwritten material in order to minimize degradation by delaying retrieval and to make it accessible to anyone on the Internet.

He raised about 4.6 million yen by crowdfunding, started shooting next month, completed digitization work by the end of this year, and aims to release it.

"The degradation cannot be stopped, even if the management is put in the library properly. The chance of touching the source material is reduced as much as possible, and the digital image is delivered to the actual material. I want to reduce the load on my computer as much as possible. "