日本の近世は、出版業が発達し多くの書物が流通され、読書を楽しむ人が増加した時期である。これに従い、文人の執筆活動も活発になり、文人の間における知的·学問的交流もまた持続的に行われた。 19世紀に活躍した曲亭馬琴は、作品のほかにも日記、書簡、随筆など、様々な記録物を残した。馬琴の作者人生のなかで後半期の記録がほとんどであるが、彼の当時の交友関係と思想、彼をめぐる事件や事故を把握できるという点で、これらの記録物は大変重要な価値を持つ。 その中でも、書簡は馬琴の身近な文人らと交わした安否と問答の内容が中心となっていることから、文人の間における交流の状況を把握するに重要な意味を持つ。馬琴の書簡の研究は、彼の交流した文人との人的交流と作品内容の共有と批評を中心とする知的交流に分けることができる。このように書簡の綿密な分析と検討作業を通じて日本近世後期の文人の交流の様相の一部を把握することができる。

In the modern Japanese era, as the publishing industry developed and many books were distributed, the number of people who enjoyed reading increased exponentially. Accordingly, the writing activities of literary people began to broaden in spectrum, as both intellectual and academic exchanges amongst them kept on expanding and developing actively. In addition to his works, Kyokutei Bakin, who was active in the 19th century, left a variety of documents such as diaries, epistles, and essays. Although most of Bakin's documents are from the latter half of his life, these documents are of great value in that he can grasp the relationship and thoughts of his companionship and the events and incidents surrounding him. Among them, the epistle has an important meaning in examining the exchange situation between literary people as it is centered around the contents of questions and answers and in regards with Bakin exchanged with nearby literary people. The study of Bakin's epistle can be divided into human exchanges with literary people he exchanged and intellectual exchanges centered on sharing and criticizing the contents of his work. As such, it is possible to grasp a part of the exchange pattern of Japanese literary people in the late modern era through a close analysis and review work.