Last updated March 14, 2023

Old books about Korea online



Expanded Pages in my site on major topics

Isabella Bird's Korea and her Neighbors (1898), with additional photos of Korea taken by her and a link to her Life.

Constance Tayler's Koreans at Home (1904).

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.

Alexandre de Gouvea, the Catholic Bishop of Peking in the late 18th century, written in 1798: Letter about the origins of the Korean Catholic Church (with my Introduction),   (or translation without introduction) translated from a French translation of the Latin original published in 1799  (also this link to a OCR text transcription of the French edition with old spellings) as well as the original Latin

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.

Histoire de l’Église de Corée
(in French) compiled by Charles Dallet in 2 volumes (1874). Complete (corrected) French texts of Volume 1, Including the Introduction about Korea   Volume 2  (Wikisource) and links to English translations of both volumes.

The French Expedition to Ganghwa-do in 1866
was described and depicted by the artist Henri Zuber. All the main French accounts and texts translated into English are available through this page.

Fernand Scherzer (1849–1886) was a French consul in China who translated 2 texts related to Korea, a Journal of an 1866 Embassy and a Gazeteer Joseon-ji, linked to through this page.

The missionaries who founded the Anglican Church in Korea with the scanned texts of "Lumen" etc.  and "Terminations of the verb 하다"

William Richard Carles (1848 – 1929), one of the first British diplomats in Seoul, including his life, the text of his  Life in Corea (1888), his Report of a Journey by Mr. Carles in the North of Corea  and a shorter paper Recent Journeys in Corea        

Charles Varat visited 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.

C. W. (Charles William) Campbell, (1861-1927) was a British consular official who made a heroic journey to Baekdu-san.

Fr. Bret was a French missionary who wrote a lengthy account of his first mission journey from Wonsan over the Tuman River into Manchuria in 1897-8.

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 Japanese war with China in Korea in 1894, the Japanese march to and capture of Pyongyang from a contemporary Japanese viewpoint in pictures (1895)

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 Repository 1892, 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

Digitalized texts of individual articles from the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch Volumes 1 - 92 

The Korea Magazine was published from January 1917 until April 1919, mainly by James Gale. Fully digitalized in text files etc

The Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland Volumes 1 - 3 were published 1824 - 1834. Then they changed the name to The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland  1835-1990 (Vol. 2 - New Series, No. 2, issues prior to 1870 are freely available through Jstor). the name was then changed to Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society  1991- (Third Series Vols. 1-  )


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:

1. Texts mentioning or describing Korea published in the 16th and 17th centuries.
2.
Texts mentioning or describing Korea published in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
3. Texts of later 19th- and early 20th-century accounts of Korea 

  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.

Horace Newton Allen, Things Korean (1908) PDF download
     Horace N. Allen,  A Chronological Index; Some of the Chief Events in the Foreign Intercourse of Korea from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Twentieth Century. Seoul: N.n., 1901.
     Horace Newton Allen, Korean tales.  (1889)
Horace Newton Allen, Korea; fact and fancy. 1904
Henry Gerhard Appenzeller, The Korea Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1905) PDF download
Annie Laurie Adams Baird, Daybreak in Korea : a tale of transformation in the Far East (1909)  PDF download
Frederick Henry Balfour, Leaves from my Chinese Scrapbook (1887) PDF download
Barnes, Annie Maria,
An American girl in Korea (1905)
Barnes, Annie Maria,
Tatong, the little slave : a story of Korea (1899)
Sten Bergman. In Korean wilds and villages. 1938.
Isabella Bird Bishop, Korea and her Neighbors (1898, American ed) See also Br Anthony's expanded page
Bland, J. O. P. (John Otway Percy)
China, Japan and Korea (1921)
Broughton, William Robert. A voyage of discovery to the North Pacific Ocean [microform] : in which the coast of Asia, from the lat. of 35@ north to the lat. of 52@ north, the island of Insu (commonly known under the name of the land of Jesso), the north, south and east coasts of Japan, the Lieuchieux and the adjacent isles, as well as the coast of Corea, have been examined and surveyed : performed in His Majesty's sloop Providence and her tender, in the years 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798. 1804
William Richard Carles, Life in Corea (1888) PDF download
     Carles, W.R. Life in Corea. New York: Macmillan, 1888.
     Carles, W.R. Life in Corea. New York: MacMillan,1894.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Division of International Law; Korea. Treaties, etc; Japan. Treaties, etc; China. Treaties, etc; Russia. Treaties, etc. Korea, treaties and agreements. 1921
Cavendish, A. E. J. (Alfred Edward John); Goold-Adams, H. E. (Henry Edward Pane), Korea and the sacred White Mountain : being a brief account of a journey in Korea in 1891 (1894) PDF download
Charles Allen Clark, First Fruits in Korea (1921) PDF download
James Hyde Clark, The Story of China and Japan . . . . together with a sketch of Corea, and the Coreans (1894)
Cobb, J. B,
Story of the years in Korea (1920)
Everard Cotes, Signs and Portents in the Far East (1907) PDF download
Constance J. D. Coulson, Korea (1910) PDF download.
Stewart Culin. Korean games with notes on the corresponding games of China and Japan (1895)
Curzon, George Nathaniel. Problems of the Far East: Japan-Korea-China. 1894
O. N. Denny, China and Korea. Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh, 1888
M. Eissler, My Voyage in Korea (1918) PDF download
Frank Elias, The Far East, China, Korea, & Japan (1911) PDF download
Malcolm C. Fenwick, The Church of Christ in Corea (1911)
John Donaldson Ford, An American cruiser in the East; travels and studies in the Far East; (1898) PDF download
Drake, Henry Burgess. Korea of the Japanese. 1930
James Scarth Gale, Korean Grammatical Forms (1894)
James Scarth Gale, A Korean-English Dictionary (1898) PDF download
James Scarth Gale, Korean Sketches (1898) PDF download 
James Scarth Gale, The Vanguard, a Tale of Korea (1904) PDF download
     James S. Gale, The Vanguard: A Tale of Korea. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1904.
James Scarth Gale, Korea in Transition (1909) PDF download
James Scarth Gale, Im Bang & Yi Ryuk,  Korean Folk Tales (1913) PDF download
     James Scarth Gale: Im Bang and Yi Ryuk. Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts, and Fairies. Trans. by James S. Gale. London: Dent, 1913.
     James S. Gale  The Cloud Dream of the Nine, a 17th-century novel by Kim Man-jung (1922)
Daniel L. Gifford, Everyday Life in Korea (1898) PDF download
George W. Gilmore, Corea of Today (1894) PDF download
     George William Gilmore, Korea from its capital: with a chapter on missions. (1892)
Government General of Chosen. The new administration in Chosen. 1921
Grajdanzev, Andrew J. Modern Korea. 1944
Graves, Joseph Waddington,
The renaissance of Korea (1920)
William Elliot Griffis, Corea, the Hermit Nation (4th edition, 1894) PDF download  (See also 1st edition with PDF file)
William Elliot Griffis, Corea, Without and Within: Chapters on Corean History, Manners and Religion. With Hendrick Hamel's narrative of captivity and travels in Corea annotated. (1885)
William Elliot Griffis, A modern Pioneer in Korea: The life-story of Henry G. Appenzeller (1912) PDF Download
     Griffis, William Elliot. Corea: the Hermit Nation. New York: Scribner's, 1894.
     Griffis, William Elliot. A Modern Pioneer in Korea: the Life Story of Henry G. Appenzeller. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1912

Minerva L. Guthapfel, The Happiest Girl In Korea and other stories from the Land of morning calm. New York: Fleming H. Revell. 1911.
Gutzlaff, Karl Friedrich August. Journal of three voyages along the coast of China, in 1831, 1832, & 1833, with notices of Siam, Corea, and the Loo-Choo Islands. 1834
Basil Hall, Voyage to Loo-Choo . . . (1826) PDF download
Basil Hall  Account of a Voyage of Discovery to the West Coast of Corea, and the Great Loo-Choo Island (1818) (Project Gutenberg)
Hendrik Hamel  Verhaal van het vergaan van het jacht de Sperwer En van het wedervaren der schipbreukelingen op het eiland Quelpaert en het vasteland van Korea (1653-1666) met eene beschrijving van dat rijk, (1920 edition)
Angus Hamilton, Korea (1904) PDF download
Angus Hamilton, Korea: its history, its people, and its commerce (1910) PDF download
Harrington, Fred Harvey. God, mammon, and the Japanese : Dr. Horace N. Allen and Korean-American relations, 1884-1905. 1944
Hodge, John W. Corean Words and Phrases, Being a Handbook and Pocket Dictionary for Visitors to Corea and New Arrivals in the Country. Seoul: The Seoul Press --- Hodge & Co.,1902.
     Hodge, John W. Corean Words and Phrases, Being a Handbook and Pocket Dictionary for Visitors to Corea and New Arrivals in the Country. Seoul: The Seoul Press --- Hodge & Co.,1902.
Homer B. Hulbert, The Passing of Korea (1906) PDF download
Homer B. Hulbert, The History of Korea, Volume 1 (1905) PDF download
Homer B. Hulbert, The History of Korea, Volume 2 (1905) PDF download
      H.B. Hulbert, The History of Korea [vol. 1]. Seoul: The Methodist Publishing House, 1905.
      H.B. Hulbert,  The History of Korea [vol. 2]. Seoul: The Methodist Publishing House, 1905.
      H.B. Hulbert,  Passing of Korea. New York: Doubleday, 1906.
Homer B. Hulbert (editor) The Korea Review (1910-1906) complete index and files for each month)
Homer B. Hulbert (editor) The Korea Review, Volume 1 (1901)  PDF of a corrected OCR text
Homer B. Hulbert (editor) The Korea Review, Volume 2 (1902) PDF of a corrected OCR text
Homer B. Hulbert (editor) The Korea Review, Volume 3 (1903)  PDF of a corrected OCR text
Homer B. Hulbert (editor) The Korea Review, Volume 4 (1904) PDF of a corrected OCR text
Homer B. Hulbert (editor) The Korea Review, Volume 5 (1905)  PDF of a corrected OCR text
Homer B. Hulbert (editor) The Korea Review, Volume 6 (1906)  PDF of a corrected OCR text
George Heber Jones, Korea (1904)
George Heber Jones, Korea, the land, people, and customs (1907) PDF download
George Heber Jones, The Bible in Korea (1916) PDF download
Jones, George Heber, Christian medical work in Korea (1910)
Emily Georgiana Kemp,  The Face of Manchuria, Korea and Russian Turkestan (1911) PDF download
Carlton Waldo Kendall, The truth about Korea (1919)
F. H. King. Farmers of Forty Centuries; Or, Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea, and Japan (1911) (Project Gutenberg)
     Kiriyama Sainosuke. Chosen of To-day: Illustrated. Keijo: Chikasawa Printing House, 1929
George Trumbull Ladd, In Korea with Marquis Ito (1908) PDF download
Arnold Henry Savage Landor, Corea, or Cho-sen: the land of the morning calm (1895) PDF download
A. Henry Savage Landor   Corea or Cho-sen (1895) - An HTML version with fully scanned pictures is available here. (Project Gutenberg)
     Joseph H. Longford,  The Story of Korea. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1911.
     Percival Lowell, Choson: The Land of the Morning Calm. Boston: Tickner, 1886.
Percival Lowell,  Chosön, the land of the morning calm; a sketch of Korea by  1855-1916. Published 1888
Claudiu Madrolle, Northern China, the valley of the Blue River, Korea (1912) PDF download
Ethel Rosalie Ferrier McCaul, Under the care of the Japanese war office (1905). (Photo of the 2 British ladies)
Elizabeth A. McCully, A Corn of Wheat: The Life of W. J. McKenzie of Korea (1904) PDF download
     George M. McCune and John A. Harrison (eds).  Korean-American relations; documents pertaining to the Far Eastern diplomacy of the United States Vol. 1, 2, 3. 1951-
Fred Arthur McKenzie, The colonial policy of Japan in Korea (1906) PDF download
F. A. McKenzie, The Tragedy of Korea (1908) PDF download
Fred Arthur McKenzie, Korea’s Fight for Freedom (1920) PDF download
F. A. McKenzie  Korea’s Fight for Freedom  (1920)  (Project Gutenberg)
(or on another site)
Kiriyama Sainosuke. Chosen of To-day: Illustrated. Keijo: Chikasawa Printing House, 1929
Louise Jordan Miln, Quaint Korea (1895) PDF Download
John M'Leod, Narrative of a voyage in His Majesty's late ship Alceste . . . (1817)  PDF download
J. Robert Moose, Village Life in Korea (1911) PDF download
New, Il Han,
When I was a boy in Korea (1928)
William Arthur Noble, Ewa, A Tale of Korea (1906) PDF download
      W. Arthur Noble,  Ewa: a Tale of Korea. New York: Eaton & Mains, 1906.
Henry Davenport Northrop & John Russell Young, The Flowery Kingdom and the Land of the Mikado, or China Japan and Corea . . (1894) PDF download
Ernest Oppert,  A Forbidden Land ; Voyages to the Corea. London: Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1880.
      Pictorial Chosen and Manchuria. Seoul: The Bank of Chosen, 1919.
Henry Lee Mitchell Pike   Our Little Korean Cousin  (1905) - Online version complete with the original pictures here. (Project Gutenberg)
Rackham, Bernard. Victoria and Albert Museum Department of  Ceramics: Catalogue of the Le Blond collection of Corean pottery. 1918
Arthur Loton Ridger, A Wanderer's Trail: being a faithful record of travels in many lands (1914) esp. chapters 12-14 about Korea.  PDF download
William Woodville Rockhill, Korea's Intercourse with China (China's Intercourse with Korea from the 15th centure to 1895) (1905) PDF download
John Ross, Corean Primer (1877) PDF download
Ross, John. History of Corea, ancient and modern : with description of manners and customs, language and geography. 1879
James Scott, A Korean Manual or Phrase Book (1893) PDF download
St. John, Henry Craven. Notes and sketches from the wild coasts of Nipon; with chapters on Cruising after pirates in Chinese waters. 1880
Frederick Starr, Korean Buddhism (1918) PDF download  
Anna M. Stoddart, The life of Isabella Bishop (1906) PDF download
Mark Napier Trollope, The Church in Corea (1915) PDF download
Horace Grant Underwood, The Call of Korea: political, social, religious (1908) PDF download
Horace Grant Underwood. An Introduction to the Korean Spoken Language. (1914) PDF download
     Horace Horton Underwood, Modern education in Korea
Lillias H. Underwood, With Tommy Tompkins in Korea (1905) PDF download
Lillias H. Underwood, Fifteen Years among the Topknots or Life in Korea (1904) PDF download
      L. H. Underwood,  Fifteen Years Among the Top-Knots or Life in Korea. Boston: American Tract Society, 1904.
Lillias H. Underwood, Underwood of Korea (1918) PDF download 
Peter Vay, Empires and Emperors of Russia, China, Korea and Japan (1906) PDF download
      Wagner, Ellasue Canter. Kim Su Bang and Other Stories of Korea. Nashville: M.E. Church, South, 1909.
Nym Wales, Kim San. Song of Ariran: the life story of a Korean rebel. 1941
Joseph Walton, M.P. China and the Present Crisis with Notes on a Visit to Japan and Korea. 1900.
Henry James Whigham, Manchuria and Korea (1904) PDF download
Alexander Williamson, Journeys in North China, Manchuria, and Eastern Mongolia With Some Account of Corea. Volume 1; Volume 2.  London: Smith, Elder & Co, 1870.
Francis Edward Younghusband, The heart of a continent : a narrative of travels in Manchuria, across the Gobi Desert, through the Himalayas, the Pamirs, and Chitral, 1884-1894 (1896)

Internet Archive Books about Korea in French
(chronological order)

Recueil de voyages au Nord, contenant divers mémoires très utiles au commerce & à la navigation (nouvelle edition). Amsterdam: Jean Frédéric Bernard.  Vol. 1. 1731, Vol 2. 1732, Vol 3, 1732, Vol.4. 1732
Jean-Baptiste Du Halde S.J., (1674-1743), Description géographique, historique, chronologique, politique, et physique de l'empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie chinoise, enrichie des cartes générales et particulieres de ces pays, de la carte générale et des cartes particulieres du Thibet, & de la Corée; & ornée d'un grand nombre de figures & de vignettes gravées en tailledouce (revised edition 1736)   Volume 1 (Vol 1 PDF dowload);  Volume 2  (Vol 2 PDF download);  Volume 3 (Vol 3 PDF download); Volume 4 (Vol 4 PDF download) [observations geographiques + historiques etc sur la Corée à partir de page 529 – 560 du volume 4]
Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville, Nouvel atlas de la Chine, de la Tartarie chinoise et du Thibet : contenant les cartes générales & particulieres de ces pays, ainsi que la carte du royaume de Corée : la plupart levées sur les lieux par ordre de l'empereur Cang-Hi avec toute l'exactitude imaginable, soit par les PP. Jésuites missionaires à la Chine, soit par des Tartares du Tribunal des mathématiques, & toutes revûës par les mêmes peres
Voyage de découvertes dans la partie septentrionale de l'océan Pacifique, fait par le capitaine W.R. Broughton, commandant la corvette de S.M.B. la Providence et sa conserve, pendant les années 1795, 1796, 1797 et 1798.  (Volume 1) 1807
Voyage de découvertes dans la partie septentrionale de l'océan Pacifique, fait par le capitaine W.R. Broughton, commandant la corvette de S.M.B. la Providence et sa conserve, pendant les années 1795, 1796, 1797 et 1798.  (Volume 2) 1807
John M'Leod, Voyage du capitaine Maxwell, : commandant l'Alceste, vaisseau de S.M.B. Sur la Mer Jaune, le long des côtes de la Corée, et dans les îles de Liou-Tchiou, avec la relation de son naufrage dans le détroit de Gaspar, ayant à bord l'ambassade angloise, à son retour de la Chine. 1818
J. Klaproth. San kokf tsou ran to sets: ou Aperçu général des trois royaumes 1832 
J.-M. (Joseph-Marie) Callery, Mémoire sur la Corée : adressé au Ministre de l'instruction publique. 1860
Charles Dallet, Histoire de l'Eglise de Coree (1874) Volume One; Volume Two  In my home page: The Introduction about KoreaPart 1  Part 2     
Fernand Scherzer trad, Journal d’une Mission en Coréé par Kuei-ling (ambassadeur de S.M. l’Empereur de la Chine, 1866)  1877
Relation de la captivité & de la délivrance de Mgr Ridel. 1879.  (A better definition PDF file)
Dictionnaire coreen-francais (1880) PDF download
(Félix Clair Ridel) : Grammaire coréenne: précédée d'un introduction sur le caractère de la langue coréenne, sa comparaison avec le chinois, etc., suivie d'un appendice sur la division du temps, les poids et mesures, la boussole, la généalogie, avec un cours d'exercices gradués pour faciliter l'étude pratique de la langue. 1881.
Maurice Jametel,  La Corée avant les Traités: souvenirs de voyages. 1885
Liste des Oiseaux recueillis en Coree par M. Jean Kalinowski  1887
Liste supplémentahe des Oiseaux recueillis en Coreé par M. Jean Kalinowski  1888
Maurice Courant, Bibliographie Coréenne Tableau Littéraire De La Coree Contenant la nomenclature des ouvrages publiés dans ce pays jusqu'en 1890 ainsi que la description et l'analyse détaillées des principaux d'entre ces ouvrages.
Arthur Piacentini, Mgr Ridel, évêque de Philippolis, vicaire apostolique de Corée : d'après sa correspondance. 1890.  PDF download
Vie de Michel Alexandre Petitnicolas : prêtre de la Société des Missions-Étrangères décapité pour la foi en Corée le 12 mars 1866 . 1891
Charles Varat, Voyage en Coree (Tour du Monde 1892)
M. Le Colonel Chaille-Long-Bey, La Corée ou Tchösen (la terre du calme matinal) 1894.  PDF download
Camille Auguste Jean Sainson trad., Les Origines de la Corée: (extrait du Tong-kouo-thong-kienn), 1895
R. Villetard de Laguérie,  La Coree, independante, russe, ou japonaise: ouvrage contenant cinquante illustrations d'apres des photographies 1898
Maurice Courant, Souvenir de Séoul Corée, 1900  1900
Marcel Monnier. A Travers la Coree. La Géographie : bulletin de la Société de géographie. Vol 1. 1900. pp 35-50.
Georges Ducrocq, Pauvre et Douce Corée. 1904 5eme edition.
George Lynch. Corée, Chine et Mandchourie: les convoitises russes & japonaises  1904
Réginald Kann, Journal d'un correspondant de guerre en Extrême-Orient : Japon, Mandchourie, Corée  1905
Maurice comte de Perigny, En courant le monde: Canada, États-Unis, Corée, Japon, Mexique. 1906

German Books

C. Gottsche, Land und Leute in Korea (1886)
Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg,
Korea eine Sommerreise nach dem Lande der Morgenruhe, 1894 (1895)
Ernst Jakob Oppert. Ein verschlossenes Land, Reisen nach Corea. Deutsche Originalausg. Brockhaus. 1880.

Norbert Weber. Im Lande der Morgenstille (In the land of the morning calm). 1915 (1920, 1923)
Zabel, Rudolf,
Meine Hochzeitsreise durch Korea während des Russisch-japanischen Krieges (1906)

Journal Articles from the University of Oregon Digital Library

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.
 
See also:
The Korean Repository Volume 1 (1892) from the Hathi Trust   
The Korean Repository Volume 3 (1896) from Internet Archive
Administrative reforms in Korea; articles reprinted from the "Seoul Press" (1919) indicating the Japanese response to the 3.1 Movement etc

Government General of Chosen. Annual report on reforms and progress in Chosen (Korea)   
   1909-10       1910-11       1911-12       1912-13       1914-15       1915-16       1916-17       1917-18       1918-21       1921-22       1922-23       1923-24       1924-26       1926-27       1927-28       1928-29       1929-30       1930-32       1932-33       1933-34       1934-35       1935-36       1937-38       1938-39       1938-39   


A PDF/OCR scan of  "Development of Chosen and Necessity of Spiritual Enlightenment"
by Sakau Moriya, Director of General Affairs Department, Government-General of Chosen. September 1924.

A PDF/OCR scan of "Thriving Chosen: A Survey of Twenty-Five Years' Administration" Compiled by Government-General of Chosen  October 1935


"Chosen koseki zufu"

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

Number 1 1839 (London)  Vol. 1-2 1839-40 (Paris/London)  Vol 2 1841 (London)   Vol 3 1842 (London)  Vol 3-4 1842-3 (London)   Vol 4-5 1841-2 (Dublin)  Vol 5-6 1844-5 (London)  Vol 6-7 1843-4 (Dublin)  Vol 7-8
1846-7 (London)   Vol 8-9 1845-6 (Dublin)   Vol 9-10 1848-9 (London)  Vol 10-11  1847 (Dublin)  Vol 11-12 1850-51 (London)   Vol 13-14 1852-3 (London)   Vol. 14 1853 (London)   Vol 15 1854 (London)   Vol 16 1855 (London)    Vol 17-18 1854 (Dublin)   Vol 19-20 1856 (Dublin)  Vol 21-2 1860-1 (London)    Vol 23-24 1860 Dublin  Vol 25 1862) Dublin   



The Korean Mission Field

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 Korea Mission Field seems to have begun publication in November 1905 as the result of the combination of The Korea Field (November 1901-August 1905) and The Korea Methodist (November 1904-October 1905), and therefore the first volume of The Korea Mission Field was given the number 2 to indicate continuity with The Korea Methodist.

    In the Internet Archive, freely accessible, are:  Vol 2 1905-6Vol 3 1907, Vol 4 1908Vol 5 1909, Vol 6 1910, Vol 7 1911, Vol 8 1912, Vol. 9 1913, Vol 10 1914, Vol 11 1915, Vol 12 1916, Vol 13 1917, Vol 14 1918, Vol 15 1919, Vol 16 1920, Vol 17 1921, Vol 18 1922, Vol 19 1923, Vol 20 1924, Vol 21 1925. The digitalization found on the Internet Archive seems not to have continued beyond the 1924 set. The OCR used to produce the text version is extremely poor.

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

Most of the issues from 1890-1926 (at least) are being digitalized and transcribed by someone at AKS


Additional resources

A Timeline listing most English translations of "pre-modern" Korean texts

Veritable Records of King Sejong (세종실록)

조선실록 Joseon Sillok online in Hanmun and modern Korean translation.

Directory of Korean Students in the United States 1938-1939  (an interesting list scanned from my collection)

3 "missionary novels" by Lois Hawks Swineheart : "Jane in the Orient", "Sarange: A Child of Chosen" and "Korea Calls!"

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).




Nearly 4,000 volumes of ancient (Joseon era) Korean books mostly in Classical Chinese from the C. V. Starr East Asian Library, University of California, Berkeley, can be read online or downloaded in PDF through Internet Archive.

Catalogue of an exhibition of poetry books and fiction published in Korea between 1945 and 1950. At the library of the University of Washington, Seattle.

Link to books for sale by the RASKB
Books about Korea