Catalogue of Korean Manuscripts and Rare Books

This volume gives a description of 110 Korean manuscripts and rare books, the majority of which belonging to the Royal Library, Copenhagen (another 13 items being part of the Ethnographic Collection of the National Museum of Denmark). Most of the manuscripts and rare books date from the Yi or Choson dynasty (1392 - 1910), the last Korean dynasty. A small part dates from the Japanese occupation (1910 - 1945) or from the establishment of the Republic of Korea (in 1953). The texts portray a traditional Confucian society and illustrate the interests of Korean scholars and lay people in earlier times. Most of the items in the catalogue are written in Chinese characters, some with Korean reading marks. A smaller number of items are written in Hangul letters. In line with other volumes in the COMDC series, the catalogue is intended to be a reference tool for scholars working on Korean subjects.