Digitized Scrolls from the Japanese Manuscript Collection, 1158-1591

The Harvard Law School Library has just put up on the web a digital collection entitled, Digitized Scrolls from the Japanese Manuscript Collection, 1158-1591 . The Japanese Manuscript Digital Collection consists of twenty-two medieval legal manuscripts and annotated facsimiles in scroll form called komonjo (komonjo are remnants of day-to-day legal transactions which frequently focus on land and property issues, though they can also represent edicts and judicial rulings). This collection spans nearly 450 years, and provides a rare window into legal transactions in the Heian (794–1185), Kamakura (1185–1333), Moromachi (1333–1568), and Momoyama (1568–1600) periods. It is part of a large donation presented to the Harvard Law Library in 1936, and is one of the finest collections of its type outside Japan. You may view the individual scrolls via the link, above.

At your service,
Cheryl