In earlier times, for the Chinese, Korea was 'the country of courteous people from the east', and for westerners 'the land of the morning calm' or 'hermit kingdom'. In this fascinating collection of writings on times past in Korea the author helps to lift the veil on this once closed country, providing the reader with a wide selection of first-hand accounts by travellers who 'discovered' Korea - some as snapshots by those passing through, others more detailed evaluations of Korean culture and everyday life by those who spent time there. The collection covers a period of over 400 years - from Hendrik Hamel's journal of the 1600s to early 20th century records, such as Roy C. Andrew's 1918 published account of his expedition, entitled Exploring Unknown Corners of the 'Hermit Kingdom'.

Excerpt from Korea and the Sacred White Mountain: Being a Brief Account of a Journey in Korea in 1891, Together With an Account of an Ascent of the White Mountain The following narrative of the way in which a few weeks' leave was spent in Korea in I 89 I does not pretend to any literary merit or to be a detailed account of that little-known country; it is simply an amplification of my diary during that time. It was at first intended that Captain goold-adams, RA and I should jointly publish the accounts of our journeys, but as he is still in the Far East, the collaboration had to be abandoned. However, Chapter viii. Is a short narrative of his ascent of the White Mountain, in which, for reasons given in my story, I was unable to accompany him. Unfortunately his map, and notes of his observations for position during his solitary journey, were lost by a friend to whom he lent them. My thanks are due to Mr. C. W. Campbell, of the Chinese Consular Service, for kindly allowing me to make use of some of the photographs which he took during his journey to the White Mountain in 1889; also to Mr. Hillier and Mr. Brazier for their photographs. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The classic reference work that provides annually updated information on the countries of the world.

The classic reference work that provides annually updated information on the countries of the world.

The classic reference work that provides annually updated information on the countries of the world.

Lautensach[s "Korea" is a regional geography, the most comprehensive one ever written on Korea in a western language. It was written before the country was divided and provides a waelth of information on the entire country, particularly on the north, something that has been difficult toobtain in the West in the past forty years. Unfortunately, only very few volumes survived the end of World War II, so that it has been very difficultto get hold of the book. Lautensachh[s "Korea" is considered a classical example of regional geography.