陸軍大臣・朝鮮総督・首相などを歴任した寺内正毅は、「寺内文庫」と呼ばれる蔵書コレクションを残している。後世、このコレクションをめぐって、不正に入手された財宝や美術品が大量に含まれているというデマが広まり、最終的には国家間の交渉や学術書における関連叙述にまで大きな影響を及ぼす事態となった。本稿では、こうしたデマの拡大過程を具体的に検討したうえで、その発生経緯や背景を解明していく。
Terauchi Masatake served as Minister of the Army and Prime Minister of Japan, as well as the Governor-General of Korea. He left a collection of literary works referred to as the Terauchi Library.Since his death, there has been widespread speculation that this collection contained a large amount of illegally obtained treasures and works of art. Ultimately, this has had a significant impact on negotiations between nations and on commentaries on the subject in academic works. This paper conducts a detailed examination of the process by which such speculation became widespread, seeking to clarify the background and circumstances in which it arose.