Epistolary style in the Early Modern Period – A Review

Useful resources

Review of honorific forms from 百人一首で始める古文書講座【歌舞伎好きが変体仮名を解読する】(in Japanese)

Short texts in premodern literary language 文吾 – modern translations – definitions – fun with words – 「言葉を“面白狩る”」(in Japanese)

Bashô collected works, including letters, online with free download available via Hathitrust: 芭蕉全集 (by Nunami Takeo, in Japanese)

Shintai shokan (New-style letters), letter writing manual published 1906; nice index, online with free download available via Hathitrust: 新躰書翰 (by Ômachi Keigetsu)

Tegami no hanashi is really nice and available for reading and downloading courtesy of the National Diet Library. Its guide to sôrôbun is brief but extremely well organized. 手紙の話 by Shimane-ken Kyôikuinkai, 1936.

Coming soon: A Bestiary of Epistolary Style forms