Signs
and Portents in the Far East (1907) is a book
by Everard Charles Cotes which
mentions his brief visit to Korea in 1906. This page reports his family
history since his is not a
familiar name.
Hong Jong-u, his life
story with the texts of the 2 novels on Korean themes he produced
during his years in Paris, 1890-1893. and the French reactions to
his killing of Kim Ok-gyun etc.
The first two Korean priests, (St.) Andrew Kim Dae-geon
and the Venerable Thomas Choe Yang-eop, studied together
in Macao before entering Korea as priests. Kim Dae-geon was
executed in 1846, a year after returning to Korea. Thomas Choe
entered several years later and served as priest for some 10 years
before dying of exhaustion. Both wrote about 20 letters in Latin
to the French priests who had educated them. English translation
of both sets of letters have been made by Brothers Anthony and
Han-Yol. The translated letters of Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon were
published
in 2021. Those of Thomas Choe were published late in
2022. The Latin (or French) originals can be viewed here:
The
letters and reports on the Korean martyrs by St. Andrew Kim
Dae-geon. The letters written by Thomas Choe
Yang-eop.
The French Expedition to Ganghwa-do
in 1866was described and depicted by the artist Henri
Zuber. All the main French accounts and texts translated
into English are available through this page.
Charles Varatvisited Korea in 1888, traveling from Seoul to
Fusan. He published a lengthy account of his journey in Le Tour du Monde 1892. This page links
to the French text and my English translation, with scans of the
illustrations.
Corea e Coreani
is a 2-volume book in Italian by Carlo Rossetti, published
in 1904-5, which I have scanned and put online. It
includes many fine (though small) photos. Some photos are visible in this
linked page. It should be translated into English and I have
begun. A Korean translation has been published.
The poet Joan Grigsby was
the starting-point for a very complex paper-chase involving
the American artist Lilian May Miller, the British actress
Mary Linley Taylor, her husband the American gold-miner 'Bruce'
Taylor and their house 'Dilkusha,' and the Australian
missionary Jessie McLaren.
The Diamond Mountains
(Geumgang-san) was once full of monumental temples. Virtually all
were destroyed in the Korean War. My site contains links to
various accounts of visits to them, as well as multiple images.
100 Great Books of Korea:
a list of 100 major works written in Korea before the modern era,
with short descriptions of each by Richard Rutt.
Full texts of
major early Korea-related Journals
The 5 volumes of the Korean Repository1892,
1895-98 in annual and monthly sections (the printing is too rough
to allow OCR so no text files, only PDF)with a link to transcripts of the weekly Korean
Repository published between February and June
1899
The Korea Review(1901
- 1906) with the full text made available as text files of the
monthly installments, as PDF and HTML files of each year's issue
Brother Anthony owns
original copies of many older books and other materials relating
to North-East Asia, a list is
available here. Online sites providing access
to old books about Korea Myongji
- LG Korean Studies Library
This is a database containing "full-text images of 638 old books
related to Korea and its neighbors in western languages along with
their indexes, tables of contents in Korean and full bibliographic
information. Users can also access to the digital database with
indexed terms retrieval system. Now the library on-line system
provides full-text images of about 30% of the major collection. In
addition, mobile web service is possible for some full-text images
of about 70 illustrations and 120 photographs." The
complete list, titles in alphabetical order for search
by category; books
published in the US; books
published in the UK. etc etc Project Gutenberg
This site only offers a handful of books related to Korea
Internet Archive
Most of the titles below are from this site. To start a new search
for other online texts, go to the
Internet archive then click on "Texts" at the top of the
page. Enter a search term (eg Korea). Some books are available as
PDF images of the original, all can be read in a streaming form,
raw OCR files of all can be downloaded.
The University
of Oregon Digital Library
The Library offers titles of books and articles in a variety of
formats, requiring other readers, mostly the Microsoft Reader. It
seems impossible to view a straight list of what is available, you
have to use Search functions. The Hathi Trust
A
number of texts about Korea can be viewed (not
downloaded) through this site, while many others can be searched
but not viewed.
Google books
An increasing number of older books that are out of copyright are
available to read for free through Play Google. Old books
about Korea freely available on the Internet (the list is
surely incomplete)
Books published before the modern period with extensive
excerpts
In separate pages you will
find commented links to and extracts from the following:
PDF or other text files of extracts have been made from
these. They are listed on
a separate page and were
mostly included in Brother Anthony's volume "Brief
Encounters" (Seoul Selection 2016, ISBN:
9781624120787)
Books published in
English during and after the opening of Korea
The list of Books in English below is in alphabetical order of the
author's family name. Indented titles are from sites other than
the Internet Archive.
Attack
on the Top Knot. The Korean Repository, Vol. III
(July, 1896), pp. 263-272. Avison, O.R. Cholera
in Seoul. The Korean Repository, Vol. II
(September, 1895), pp 339-344. Avison, O.R. Disease
in Korea. The Korean Repository, Vol. IV (March,
1897), pp. 207-211 Boots, J.L. Korean
Musical
Instruments
and
An
Introduction
to
Korean
Music. Transactions of the Korea Branch of the Royal
Asiatic Society, Vol. XXX, (1940), pp. 1-32. Bowman, N.H. History
of Korean Medicine. Transactions of the Korea Branch
of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. VI, Part I (1915), pp.
1-34. Gale, Jas. S. Korean
Coolie. The Korean Repository, Vol.III (December,
1896), pp. 475-481. Gale, Jas. S. Trip
Across Northern Korea. The Korean Repository,
Vol.IV (March,1897), pp. 81-89 Gale, Jas. S. Hanyang
(Seoul). Transactions of the Korea Branch of the Royal
Asiatic Society, Vol. II, Part II (1902), pp. 1-43. Gale, Jas. S. "The
Korean Alphabet". Transactions of the Korea Branch of
the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. IV, Part I (1912), pp.
13-61. Gale, Jas. S. Selection
and Divorce. Transactions of the Korea Branch of the
Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. IV, Part III (1913), pp.
17-22. Gale, Jas. S. Shipwreck
(Korean) in 1636 A.D., Transactions of the Korea
Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XV (1924), pp.
1-22. Gifford, Daniel L. "Ancestral
Worship as Practiced in Korea". The Korean Repository,
Vol. I (June, 1892), pp. 169-176. Goodrich, L.
Carrington. Sino-Korean
Relations
at
the
End
of
the
XIV
Century. Transactions of the Korea Branch of the Royal
Asiatic Society, Vol. XXX, (1940), pp. 33-46. .His
Majesty, the King of Korea. The Korean Repository,
Vol. III (November, 1896), pp. 424-431 Hulbert, Homer B. Korean
Vocal Music. The Korean Repository, Vol. III
(February, 1896), pp. 45-53. Hulbert, H.B. The
Geomancer. The Korean Repository, Vol.III
(October, 1896), pp. 387-391. Hulbert, H.B. Itu.
The Korean Repository, Vol.V (February, 1898), pp.47-54. Hulbert, Homer B.
Japan
in Korea. Journal of Race Development, Vol.10,
No.3 (January, 1920), pp. 270-277. Hunt, Charles. Some
Pictures and Painters of Corea. Transactions of the
Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XIX
(1930), pp. 1-34. Jones, George Heber. The
Japanese Invasion. The Korean Repository (January,
1892), pp. 10-16; (February, 1892), pp. 46-50: (April, 1892),
pp. 116-121; (May, 1892), pp. 147-152; (June, 1892), pp.
182-188; (July, 1892), pp. 217-222; (October, 1892), pp.
308-311. Jones, George Heber. Some
Aspects of Reform in Korea. The Journal of Race
Development, Vol. 1 (July, 1910), pp. 18-35. Junkin, William
M. Tong
Hak. The Korean Repository, Vol. II (February,
1895), pp. 56-61. Koons, E.W. Afforestation
in Korea. Transactions of the Korea Branch of the
Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. VI --- Part I (1915), pp.
35-42. Korean
Ginseng. The Korean Repository, Vol. V (May,
1898), pp. 161-170. Ladd, George Trumbull "Economic
and Social Change in Korea". The Journal of Race
Development, Vol. 1 (July, 1910), pp. 248-253. Landis, E.B. Geomancy
in Korea. The Korean Repository, Vol.V (February,
1898), pp.41-46. Lay, Arthur Hyde. "Marriage
Customs of Korea". Transactions of the Korea Branch of
the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. IV, Part III (1913), pp.
1-15. MacNair, Harley
Farnsworth. Pilgrimage
to the Diamond Mountains. China Journal of Science and
Arts, Vol. 1, No. 6 (November, 1923), pp 573-579. Miura, C. The
Problem of Korean Assimilation. The Japan Magazine,
Vol. XII, no.I-III ( July-August, 1921) pp. 130-134. Moffett, S.A. Suggestions
on Travelling in Korea. The Korean Repository
(November, 1892), pp. 325-330. Nocentini, Ludovico. "Names
of
the
Sovereigns
of
the
Old
Corean
States, and Chronological Table of the Present Dynasty". Journal
of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol.
XXII, New Series (1887), pp. 90-99. Paske, J. The
Corean School System. East of Asia Magazine, Vol.
II (1903), pp. 24-30. Rufus, W. Carl. "The
Celestial Planisphere of King Yi Tai-jo". Transactions
of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. IV,
Part III (1913), pp. 23-72. Scherzer, F. "Corea".
Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic
Society, Vol. XVIII, New Series (1883), pp. 25-36. Seven
Months Among the Tong Haks. The Korean Repository,
Vol. II (June, 1895), pp. 201-208 Starr, Frederick. Korean
Buddhism. The Journal of Race Development, Vol.
11, No. 1 (July, 1918), pp. 71-84. Trumbull, George.
The
Development of Korea in Most Recent Times. The Journal
of Race Development, Vol. 8, No.4 (April, 1918), pp.
431-438. Underwood, Horace
H. Occidental
Literature on Korea. Transactions of the Korea Branch
of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XX (1931), pp.
1-186,i-xvi. Van Buskirk, J.D.
Some
Common Korean Foods. Transactions of the Korea Branch
of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XIV (1923), pp. 1-8. Wilkinson, W.H. Korean
Chess. The Korean Repository, Vol. II
(March,1895), pp. 88-95.
In 1913, Sekino Tadashi began work on the first volume of the
"Chosen koseki zufu" (朝鮮古蹟圖譜 조선고적도보 Joseon Gojeok
Dobo) series (Album of ancient sites and monuments of
Joseon), fifteen magnificent volumes of photos and drawings of
ancient Korean objects and sites published 1915-1935. This and
other publications by him were the origin of the present list
of Korean National Treasures. A
complete set of images of every volume can be seen here
(changing the final number depending on the volume desired)
and magnificent complete PDF files of each volume are
available (See the
Index or the following links): Volume
1 낙랑대방군· 고구려 樂浪帶方郡 ·高句麗 Volume
2 고구려성지급고분 高句麗城址及古墳 Volume
3 백제,임나,옥저,예,고신라 百濟,任那,沃沮,濊·,古新羅 Volume
4 신라통일시대(불교유적) 新羅統一時代(佛敎遺蹟) Volume
5 신라통일시대(왕릉,불상,탑내발견품) 新羅統一時代(王陵,佛像,塔內發見品) Volume
6 고려(성지,궁지,석탑,기타석조물) 高麗(城址,宮址,石塔,基他石造物) Volume
7 고려(석탑,불상,능묘,석관,묘지,탑지)
高麗(石塔,佛像,陵墓,石棺,墓誌,塔誌) Volume
8 고려(도자기) 高麗(陶磁器) Volume
9 고려(분묘내발견공예품) 高麗(墳墓內發見工藝品) Volume
10 조선시대(궁전건축) 朝鮮時代(宮殿建築) Volume
11
조선시대(성곽,학교,문묘,객사,사고,서원등건조물)朝鮮時代(城郭,學校,文廟,客舍,史庫,書院等建造物) Volume
12 조선시대(불사건축기1) 朝鮮時代(佛寺建築基1) Volume
13 조선시대(불사건축기2,탑파,묘탑,석비,교량)
朝鮮時代(佛寺建築基2,塔婆,墓塔,石碑,橋梁) Volume
14 조선시대(회화) 朝鮮時代(繪畵) Volume
15 조선시대(도자기) 朝鮮時代(陶磁器)
Annals of the
Propagation of the Faith
This more or less annual publication
in English of letters from missionaries across the world, with
other texts, published in London and Dublin, includes a number of
letters by the missionaries in Korea. The editions from London and
Dulin do not always have the same volume numbers and offer
different translations of the same texts. . . . Most of the texts from Korea have been
compiled as a PDF file
This essential resource for Korean
church history is unfortunately not easily accessible; a full
reprint published by Hanʼguk Kidokkyosa Yonʼguhoe in
1986 soon went out of print and although another organization now
claims to have the copyright, it has not reprinted the set. The
final volume of the 1986 set is a volume listing the complete Table of Contents
for each month's issue. This is available through this page,
either in a non-searchable PDF file or in a non-corrected MS Word OCR
or in this Excel file
compiled by Min Jung in collaboration with RAS London and RAS
Korea. The Excel file is arranged in chronological order.
The remaining issues can be viewwed through the
National Library of Korea after installing their reader
(which blocks 'right-click'while it is being used). Downloading
is not possible but images of individual pages can be saved as
png files. In the NLK page, the sets begin with "Vol 1 "(= 1921)
but the set for 1923 is missing and their "Vol 3"is that for
1924.
Yonsei University has a
complete set of original copies visible online but to view
them a Fasoo plugin has to be installed using Internet Explorer.
This plugin might prove problematic, caution is advised. Morning Calm, the
magazine of the Anglican Mission
Jaroslav Olša, jr. Ambassador of the Czech Republic
to the Republic of Korea, has been very active in archival
research and has wtitten / published some valuable studies which
he allows us to put online (see also RASKB
Transactions): Seven Czech Travellers in Korea:
how they explored, viewed and described the country before World
War II. (published in English and Korean in the exhibition
catalogue 1901 체코인 브라즈의 서울 방 문 1901 Photographs of Seoul by
Enrique Stanko Vraz and other early Czech travellers' views of
Korea. (Seoul: Seoul Museum of History 2011).
Prelude of Communist
Fraternity: Interaction of Czechoslovakia and Korea
from World War II until the End of the Korean War (published in
English and Korean in the exhibition catalogue The Korean
Peninsula after the Armistice as Seen by Czechoslovak Delegates to
the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission 1953-1956 -정전 후 남과 북.
체코슬로바키아 중립국감독위원단이 본“ (ed. Jongmin Sa – Seungju Hong – Jaroslav
Olša, jr.) (Seoul: Seoul Museum of History 2013).