RAS Korea Journal ‘Transactions’

Prices do not include postage and packing

Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch, VOLUMES 1 (1900) ~ 30 (1940), Complete bound set, hard-cover binding, consisting of 6 books. $250 / KRW250,000

Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch, Volumes 31 (1948-9) ~ 96 (2022), $10/KRW10,000 (non-members) per volume

Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch, Volumes 97 (2023), $15/KRW15,000 (non-members) per volume

RAS Korea Publications

Prices do not include postage and packing

The Catholic Church in Korea: Its Origins 1566-1784. Juan Ruiz de Medina, SJ. English trans. by John Bridges SJ, RAS-KB, 1994. Hardbound. 380 pp. ISBN 978-89-93699-06-7. A concise work rich in new information collected from unedited documents found in five European libraries, about the history of the Korean Catholic Church before the time of its officially recognized foundation in 1784. $15 / KRW15,000

Challenged Identities: North American Missionaries in Korea 1884-1934. Elizabeth Underwood, RAS-KB, 2004. Hardbound, 326 pp. ISBN 978-89-954424-0-1. A fascinating look into the lives of the first Protestant missionaries to Korea: the challenges they faced in their lives, from overcoming culture shock and learning the language to raising a family and building a house; and the challenges they faced in the Christian work that they did, challenges that shaped their identities, their policies, and indeed their beliefs in the land of Korea more than a century ago. $25 / KW25,000

Confucian Gentlemen and Barbarian Envoys: The Opening of Korea, 1875-1885. Martina Deuchler. RAS-KB and U of Washington p, 1977. Hardbound. 310 pp. ISBN 978-89-93699-05-0. The only thoroughgoing study of the opening of Korea after centuries as the “Hermit Kingdom”: discusses the rivalries among China, Japan, and Russia and the problems of the traditional Confucian scholar-bureaucrats trying to cope with their rapidly changing world. $15 / KRW15,000

Early Encounters with the United States and Japan: Six Essays on Late Nineteenth-Century Korea. Lew, Young-Ick, RAS-KB, 2007. Softbound. 249 pp. ISBN 978-89-954424-8-7.  The book consists of six essays on late 19th century Korean history. All of them were originally prepared and presented as conference papers or keynote speeches at major conferences held in Korea and the US.
They deal with Korea’s relations with the US and Japan mainly between 1882, when the Joseon Kingdom signed its first modern treaty with the United States, and 1905 when the same kingdom called the Daehan (Great Han) Empire from 1987, degenerated into a protectorate of Japan. $20 / KRW20,000

Encounters: The New Religions of Korea and Christianity. General editors: Kim Sung-hae and James Heisig. RAS-KB, 2008. Softbound. 191 pp. ISBN 978-89-954424-9-4. This book has chapters describing the origins, faith and practice of the three main ‘new’ religions of Korea, Cheondo-gyo, Daejong-gyo and Won-Buddhism, written by members of each, as well as general chapters considering them from a sociological viewpoint, and a Christian perspective. The book ends with a transcript of an open exchange between senior members of the religions. $10 / KRW10,000

Essays on Korean Traditional Music. Lee Hye-ku, trans. by Robert C. Provine, RAS-KB, 1980. Softbound. 278 pp. ISBN 978-89-93699-03-6. The only Korean musicologist of international repute. Dr. Lee Hye-Ku has struggled over the past few decades to keep Korean traditional music from being swallowed up in the tide of Westernization. Until now,
apart from a few translated articles, his work has been accessible only to Korean speakers. A definitive text on Korean traditional music in English. $10 / KRW10,000

Fifteen Years Among the Topknots. 1904 and 1908. Lillias H. Underwood, RAS-KB Reprint, 1987. Softbound. 403 pp. A delightfully written personal, perceptive account of a long-gone Korea, shedding new light on a period too often passed over as reactionary and of no import to the modern world, but which was also a period of incredibly rapid change. The 1908 edition contains three new chapters and this edition includes a personal sketch of the author by her 20-year-younger sister. $15 / KRW15,000

Hamel’s Journal and a Description of the Kingdom of Korea, 1653-1666. Hendrik Hamel, English translation by Jean-Paul Buys, RAS-KB, 1998. Softbound. 107 pp. ISBN 89-7225-086-4. The first Western account of Korea is the glory of a group of sailors shipwrecked on Cheju-do. Some thirteen years later, after escaping to Japan, Hamel gave the outside world a firsthand description of Korea, an almost unknown country until then. This is the first translation based on the original manuscript. $15 / KRW15,000

I Married a Korean. 1953. Kim Agnes Davis, RAS-KB Reprint, 1979. Softbound. 260 pp. The author’s personal account of an early international marriage, its almost insurmountable difficulties and unexpected joys. A postscript in this edition describes the Kims’ lives in Korea and America during the 25 years since the book’s first publication. $20 / KRW20,000

Imjin War, The. Sam Hawley. RAS-KB 2005. Hardbound, xvi pp. + 664 pp. + 20 pp. illustrations. ISBN 978-89-954424-2-5. The most comprehensive account ever published in English of this cataclysmic event, so little known in the West. It begins with the political and cultural background of Korea, Japan, and China, discusses the diplomatic breakdown that led to the war, describes every major incident and battle from 1592 to 1598, and introduces a fascinating cast of characters along the way. $30 / KRW30,000

In This Earth and In That Wind. Lee O-young, translated by David Steinberg, RAS-KB, 1967. Softbound. 226 pp. ISBN 89-954424-5-X. A collection of 50 vignettes of commonplace Korean life. The author often contrasts aspects of Korean culture with that of foreign nations and draws a variety of conclusions about Korean society from these contrasts. $5 / KRW5,000

Introduction to Korean Music and Dance, An. Lee Hye-ku, RAS-KB, 1977. Softbound. 54 pp. A general discussion for non-specialist Western reader. $5 / KRW5,000

James Scarth Gale’s History of the Korean People, edited by Richard Rutt, RAS-KB, 1967. Hardbound. 174 pp. ISBN 978-89-954424-1-8. A reprint of the classic English-language history of Korea first published in 1927. It has been extensively annotated by Bishop Rutt with reference to sources and including commentary. It is introduced by an extensive and, to date, the only biography of Dr. Gale. a towering scholar in the early days of Western residence in Korea. $25 / KRW25,000

Korea and Christianity: The Problem of Identification and Tradition. Spencer J. Palmer, RAS-KB, 1967. Softbound. 174 pp. ISBN 978-89-93699-10-4. An early study of the success of Christianity in Korea, especially in contrast to China. $5 / KRW5,000

Korea Under Colonialism: The March First Movement and Anglo-Japanese Relations. Ku Dae-yeol, RAS-KB, 1985. Hardbound. 350 pp. ISBN 978-89-93699-09-8. A thorough study on March First Movement, a Korean uprising against Japanese colonial rule in 1919, with special emphasis on its international implications and Britain’s role in the uprising. $20 / KRW20,000

Korean Patterns. Paul S. Crane, RAS-KB Reprint, 1999, Paperbound, 188 pp. A classic observation of Korean culture and daily life, written by a country doctor and missionary who worked and lived in Korean in the 1950s and 1960s. While many things have changed in Korean society, Crane’s observations are still valuable for both understanding modern Korea as well as having a look at Korean in days gone by. $10 / KRW 10,000

Korean Shamanism: Revivals, Survivals and Change. Keith Howard, ed., RAS-KB, 1998, Softbound, 258 pp. A thoroughly readable collection of critical research from prominent scholars in the fields of anthropology, religion, history, and the arts. Koreans, virtually alone in the world, have kept the ancient traditional religion of shamanism alive at a time of massive industrialization, modernization and Westernization. $10 / KRW10,000

Korean Political Tradition and Law. Hahm Pyong-choon, RAS-KB, 1971, Hardbound. 249 pp. ISBN 978-89-93699-07-4. A compendium of articles by a noted law professor (later Ambassador to the United States), ostensibly on various legal perceptions but giving deep insight into some of the conflicts between western and Korean legal and social concepts. Very helpful in understanding some cultural differences. $15 / KRW15,000

Korean Works and Days: Notes from the Diary of a Country Priest. 1964. Richard Rutt. RAS-KB Reprint, 1978. Softbound. 205 pp. A visitor may never know a land as well as its denizens do, but that visitor sometimes will see things that the residents cannot. In other words, with distance comes perspective, as in this account of rural Korea in the 1950s from the view of a sensitive and inquisitive foreign village priest. A farmer’s almanac of a specific place and time, this book records the seasons, the harvest, the customs of the people, and conversations with local Confucian scholars. $5 / KRW5,000

Korea’s 1884 Incident: Its Background and Kim Ok-kyun’s Dream. Harold F. Cook, RAS-KB, 1982, Softbound. 264 pp. ISBN 978-89-93699-08-1. A description of an attempted coup aimed at bringing more rapid reform and modernization to Korea in the early years after her opening to the rest of the world and the role of one of the leaders. The work includes an analysis of the situation in 1884 and evaluates the motives of the plotters and the results of the attempt both on the nation and for the individuals. Scholarly, yet exciting reading, and of some insight to political attitudes in Korea even today. $20 / KRW20,000

Pioneer American Businessman in Korea: The Life and Times of Walter David Townsend. Harold F. Cook, RAS-KB, 1981. Softbound. 100 pp. ISBN 978-89-93699-11-1. This biography of one of the first foreign businessmen in Korea becomes the framework for a unique view of early trade issues and difficulties, with a description of life for foreign traders in Korea a century ago. $5 / KRW5,000

The Life of Buddha in Korean Paintings, Edited by Zozayong, Translated by Jennifer Strom, Photography by Carl Strom & Yoon Yeolsu. 1983 (2nd edition). A joint project of Emille Museum and Royal Asiatic Society-Korea Branch. $10 / KRW10,000

The Song of a Faithful Wife, Richard Rutt, trans. RAS-KB Reprint, 1999, Paperbound, 97 pp. Here is the timeless love story of Korea–the story of Ch’unhyang. An official’s son and a girl of lowbirth fall in love and are secretly married. The official and his family are sent far away, and the girl becomes the property of a local official who abuses her. Her lover, though, attains the rank of government inspector and returns to punish the local official and rescue his beloved. Rutt’s translation in narrative form is the most readable of English translations currently available. $5 / KRW5,000

Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven: A Korean Epic. (2nd edition) Translated by James Hoyt, RAS-KB, 1979. Softbound. 187 pp. ISBN 978-89-93699-02-9. One of the classics of Korean literature, both in its own right and as the first book to have been written entirely in Hangul, the Korean alphabet promulgated by King Sejong In 1446. This edition contains both the Korean version and a literary translation, with extensive commentary, bibliography, and glossary. $10 / KRW10,000

Undiplomatic Memories. William F. Sands, 1930. RAS-KB Reprint, 1990 Softbound. 238 pp. A delightfully informal account of Korean affairs and foreign policy at the turn of the century as seen by a young American foreign service officer. $10 / KRW10,000

Virtuous Women: Three Classic Korean Novels. Translated by Richard Rutt & Kim Chong-un, RAS-KB, 1974. Hardbound. 399 pp. ISBN 89-954424-3-3. The three most significant works of traditional Korean fiction: A Nine Cloud Dream, The True History of Queen Inhyon, and The Song of a Faithful Wife, Ch’unhyang. The major characters are all women and the three novels together give a vivid picture of the Korean ideal of womanhood before it felt the impact of Western culture. $20 / KRW20,000

Wind and Bone. Ruth Stewart, RAS-KB, 1980. Softbound. 145 pp. ISBN 978-89-93699-01-2. Delicate word-paintings of contemporary rural Korea, its people and their changing milieu, by a sensitive author who has spent some 30 years in rural Korea. $5 / KRW5,000

Yogong: Factory Girl. Robert F. Spencer, RAS-KB, 1988. Softbound. 185 pp. ISBN 89-954424-4-1. The author’s work is based on a field study done on one of the reasons for Korea’s economic miracle, the workers. Here the author focuses on the girls or the young women who work behind the scenes producing the goods that have pushed Korea into another classification. A look at background data, the workers in a Korean context, work situation, associations, relationships and future perspectives. $5 / KRW5,000

Books from other publishers (selected)

Prices do not include postage and packing

Korean Ideas and Values, Michael C Kalton, (Philip Jaisohn Memorial papers) Philip Jaisohn Memorial Foundation (1979) ($4 / KW4,000)

South Korea (P. Bartz) Clarendon Press 1972. A socio-economic study of South Korea in the late 1960s. ($10/ KRW10,000)

The United States and Korea: American-Korean Relations 1866-1976. Andrew C. Nahm, Editor. Kalamazoo, MI: The Center for Korean Studies, Western Michigan University, 1979 ($8 / KRW8,000)

Korea through Myths and Legends. Robin Rhee. Seoul Press. ($10 / KRW10,000)

Democracy in Korea. Sang-yong Choi Seoul Press for the Korean Political Science Association, 1997 ($5 / KRW5,000)

Early Voyagers: Collected Poems. James Wade. Hollym 1969. ($5 / KRW5,000)