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The Tale of Genji: A Visual Companion
An illustrated guide to one of the most enduring masterworks of world literature
Written in the eleventh century by the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji is a masterpiece of prose and poetry that is widely considered the world's first novel. Melissa McCormick provides a unique companion to Murasaki's tale that combines discussions of all fifty-four of its chapters with paintings and calligraphy from the Genji Album (1510) in the Harvard Art Museums, the oldest dated set of Genji illustrations known to exist.
In this book, the album's colorful painting and calligraphy leaves are fully reproduced for the first time, followed by McCormick's insightful essays that analyze the Genji story and the album's unique combinations of word and image. This stunning compendium also includes English translations and Japanese transcriptions of the album's calligraphy, enabling a holistic experience of the work for readers today. In an introduction to the volume, McCormick tells the fascinating stories of the individuals who created the Genji Album in the sixteenth century, from the famous court painter who executed the paintings and the aristocrats who brushed the calligraphy to the work's warrior patrons and the poet-scholars who acted as their intermediaries.
Beautifully illustrated, this book serves as an invaluable guide for readers interested in The Tale of Genji, Japanese literature, and the captivating visual world of Japan's most celebrated work of fiction.
-- "Hyperallergic"
Written in the eleventh century by the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji is a masterpiece of prose and poetry that is widely considered the world's first novel. Melissa McCormick provides a unique companion to Murasaki's tale that combines discussions of all fifty-four of its chapters with paintings and calligraphy from the Genji Album (1510) in the Harvard Art Museums, the oldest dated set of Genji illustrations known to exist.
In this book, the album's colorful painting and calligraphy leaves are fully reproduced for the first time, followed by McCormick's insightful essays that analyze the Genji story and the album's unique combinations of word and image. This stunning compendium also includes English translations and Japanese transcriptions of the album's calligraphy, enabling a holistic experience of the work for readers today. In an introduction to the volume, McCormick tells the fascinating stories of the individuals who created the Genji Album in the sixteenth century, from the famous court painter who executed the paintings and the aristocrats who brushed the calligraphy to the work's warrior patrons and the poet-scholars who acted as their intermediaries.
Beautifully illustrated, this book serves as an invaluable guide for readers interested in The Tale of Genji, Japanese literature, and the captivating visual world of Japan's most celebrated work of fiction.
-- "Hyperallergic"
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 20, 2020
A beautiful book that illustrates The Tale of Genji through the oldest known paintings (kept at the Harvard Art Museum) and provides a summary and analysis of each chapter. Often this is quite insightful and can point out subtle plot points that may have been missed or not fully understood (by me). The negative is that it does assume the reader is already wholly familiar with the story and not reading it as a “companion” piece to the novel - there were several major spoilers!
September 12, 2020
This book is a reproduction of albums donated to the Metropolitan Museum, the intro says “it [is] the oldest complete album of Genji painting and calligraphy in the world”. I’ve always liked looking at old books and manuscripts of the Middle Ages for their works of art and writing, so it’s a thrill to have my own copy and on kindle, where I won’t have to worry about ruining the book from frequent use, and making notes and highlighting text.
Though, when I got it, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was a touch impulsive as it was only months earlier, I’d heard of The Tale of Genji. It was the cover that first caught my eye and then the title, after a quick search l realised how it ticks several boxes for me: it’s an early form of storytelling; human history; and wanting to be more familiar with Japanese culture. However, it’s with getting this book where I would also realise it ticks two more boxes, my interest in art and poetry.
To read this is not like reading the The Tale of Genji, the subtitle of this book is a visual companion, so it comes with expectation that you are the familiar with the story. The fiction in this book is not even a short version of the original story; in the intro it describes itself as “short excerpts [that] never explain the plot, characters, or setting”. The real focus of this book is the art.
The albums this book is based on were completed in 1510, over in Europe Raphael, Giovanni Bellini and Michelangelo amongst others were making their mark. I know very little of early Japanese art, and though I’m sure there is more for me to know than what’s covered here, reading this brings home how important aesthetics is to the Japanese culture.
There are 54 chapters, each starts with an image of a painted scene related to that chapter, followed by an image that captures the calligraphy. Most of painted scenes are done with a limited palette, and it took me awhile to get used to how to read them as the use of perspective and foreshortening of figures are not familiar to me, but once I got the hang of it, it got easier. What I especially liked about this book is the commentary of how to read the art. Not only did this make it easier but it left me with the clear notion of how this book would be read and understood in sixteenth century Japan. In some ways it’s a quick read, the kind that would be easy to flick through, but then it would be easy to miss the gorgeousness of the works of art contained in this book. And this is the art that interests me as it would go on to be the art that would later influence European art and manga.
Though, when I got it, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was a touch impulsive as it was only months earlier, I’d heard of The Tale of Genji. It was the cover that first caught my eye and then the title, after a quick search l realised how it ticks several boxes for me: it’s an early form of storytelling; human history; and wanting to be more familiar with Japanese culture. However, it’s with getting this book where I would also realise it ticks two more boxes, my interest in art and poetry.
To read this is not like reading the The Tale of Genji, the subtitle of this book is a visual companion, so it comes with expectation that you are the familiar with the story. The fiction in this book is not even a short version of the original story; in the intro it describes itself as “short excerpts [that] never explain the plot, characters, or setting”. The real focus of this book is the art.
The albums this book is based on were completed in 1510, over in Europe Raphael, Giovanni Bellini and Michelangelo amongst others were making their mark. I know very little of early Japanese art, and though I’m sure there is more for me to know than what’s covered here, reading this brings home how important aesthetics is to the Japanese culture.
There are 54 chapters, each starts with an image of a painted scene related to that chapter, followed by an image that captures the calligraphy. Most of painted scenes are done with a limited palette, and it took me awhile to get used to how to read them as the use of perspective and foreshortening of figures are not familiar to me, but once I got the hang of it, it got easier. What I especially liked about this book is the commentary of how to read the art. Not only did this make it easier but it left me with the clear notion of how this book would be read and understood in sixteenth century Japan. In some ways it’s a quick read, the kind that would be easy to flick through, but then it would be easy to miss the gorgeousness of the works of art contained in this book. And this is the art that interests me as it would go on to be the art that would later influence European art and manga.
October 9, 2025
Art Commentary and Literature Commentary
This work is a commentary on both the ancient classic The Tale of Genji and on a 500 year old compendium of art and calligraphy leaves that was based on the thousand year old ancient classic. This book takes the book chapter by chapter, displaying a copy of the art for that chapter on a two page spread, followed by two pages of story plot and art commentary. So each of the 54 chapters of The Tale of Genji has a four page treatment here.
The art is lovely, but it goes a long way in setting the scenes of each chapter. The commentary ties the art and plot together in a manner that gives the modern day reader an understanding of the cultural and political ramifications of the story events.
All in all, I'd say this work is an excellent resource for anyone who enjoys Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji.
This work is a commentary on both the ancient classic The Tale of Genji and on a 500 year old compendium of art and calligraphy leaves that was based on the thousand year old ancient classic. This book takes the book chapter by chapter, displaying a copy of the art for that chapter on a two page spread, followed by two pages of story plot and art commentary. So each of the 54 chapters of The Tale of Genji has a four page treatment here.
The art is lovely, but it goes a long way in setting the scenes of each chapter. The commentary ties the art and plot together in a manner that gives the modern day reader an understanding of the cultural and political ramifications of the story events.
All in all, I'd say this work is an excellent resource for anyone who enjoys Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji.
January 16, 2025
What a wonderful supplement to 源氏物語. I love the calligraphy in particular. The only thing that could make this book better is a chapter-specific sampling of incense lol. Definitely a “keep and revisit” for me.
August 31, 2021
Invaluable resource while reading The Tale of Genji.
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September 16, 2025Pretty cool companion, the pictures are stunning. It's great to go back and experience the book reduced down to major moments. With a novel that long and episodic it is so easy to lose track of that larger-scale architecture, which takes you on a fascinating journey from Genji's peak, tracing Murusaki Shikibu's withdrawal from society alongside the narrative and geographical shift to Uji in the last ten chapters.
It's a shame McCormick's writing sucks. Maybe it's just because she comes at if from a History of Art perspective and not such a literary one, but some of the description of the paintings is so shallow: this tree might represent this and the water mirrors that... Very blunt form of discussion that misses, in my opinion, lots of subtleties.
It's a shame McCormick's writing sucks. Maybe it's just because she comes at if from a History of Art perspective and not such a literary one, but some of the description of the paintings is so shallow: this tree might represent this and the water mirrors that... Very blunt form of discussion that misses, in my opinion, lots of subtleties.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews