skip to page content - Genji monogatari (Tale of Genji) is often
considered the first great novel in world literature. The author
of the work, Murasaki Shibuku, was born around 978 and spent
most of her life at or near the imperial court in Kyoto. After a
brief marriage to an older man, she entered the service of
Empress Akiko (or Shōshi) around 1005 as a lady-in-waiting. The
novel consists of 54 books or chapters that recount the life and
romances of Prince Genji, the young, handsome, and talented son
of an emperor. The novel is remarkable for its elegant style,
complex portrayals of characters, and descriptions of human
emotions. The author’s real name is unknown (she was known as Tō
no Shikibu during her lifetime and came to be called Murasaki
Shibuku after her death), as are her method of composition and
the exact date when the work was written. This illustrated,
woodblock print edition is from the collections of the Library
of Congress. Produced in Kyoto in the mid-17th century, it is a
complete and well