[KS] Bishop Mark Napier Trollope

[Minh Chung]

Dear Prof. King,
Thank you very much for the information.
Many rare and important books and manuscripts were donated by Bishop
Trollope to Oxford 
sporadically during 1902 - 1930.  These include a painting scroll of the
funeral procession 
of King Yongjo as well as a collection of blocked printed books
published between 15th-19th century.
A publication on Korean treasures in the Bodleian libraries and museums
of Oxford University 
is planned for November 2011, which will include many of these items.

The Library also has the Bishop's private correspondence from 1891-1929
as well as letters 
received and sent from 1889-1928 from the archives of the United Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel.
However I do not think there is any Gale correspondence among these.

Incidentally, Bishop Rutt's library was donated to the Bodleian Library
last year.

Minh Chung
The Bodleian Library
University of Oxford


-----Original Message-----
From: koreanstudies-bounces at koreaweb.ws
[mailto:koreanstudies-bounces at koreaweb.ws] On Behalf Of Ross King
Sent: 27 October 2010 17:30
To: Korean Studies Discussion List
Subject: Re: [KS] Bishop Mark Napier Trollope

Bishop Trollope's library ended up in what is now the Rare Book
Collection of Yonsei University Library (Bishop Rutt's book on Gale
includes some snippets of information about the Trollope collection and
its fate in the endnotes). Trollope and J S Gale went around buying
books together for the Kyung Shin School, and bought and sold old Korean
books from/to each other. I am working on a full accounting of Gale's
book-collecting activities for a paper I'm giving at the Kyujanggak in
late December, and should have a more precise story to tell then. 

I would be curious to know whether and to what extent the Yonsei Library
Rare Book section acknowledges the significant collecting activity
conducted by both Gale and Trollope that would later benefit their
collection. It seems that this is rather glossed over, as the recent
multi-volume translation of the important early-19th c. yadam
collection, _Kimun ch'onghwa_, translated by Kim Tong-uk, is oblivious
to the fact that the edition translated was purchased by Gale on behalf
of Kyung Shin School (Gale himself translated about 20% of this
extensive collection--stay tuned for a book on this edited by myself and
Sinae Park). In any case, the Yonsei Library seems to be rather too
casual when it comes to the provenance of many of its rare books.

Bishop Trollope's private papers and correspondence, on the other hand,
probably survive in England, in the Anglican missionary archive in
Manchester (? there is an impressive website with preliminary finder
lists); I suppose it is possible that the odd book or two might be among
his papers, but I rather doubt it. What _would_ be interesting to know
is whether there is any significant Gale correspondence among his
papers, as Gale himself was lousy at keeping copies of his
correspondence, or at least, the Gale archive as it survives in Toronto
has little or no personal correspondence, which is a pity, as he and
Trollope were quite close and were pretty much the only two westerners
in Korea back then who knew hanmun. (Gale, on the other hand, kept
rather detailed records of all his book-buying activities, as his
purchases were usually transacted with the monies of others; he had no
money of his own, and complained constantly that Japanese collectors had
more or less 'strip-mined' the rare book market).

RK

> color:#003300'Dear members,
> color:#003300'I wonder if anyone would have information or know the
whereabout
> of the library of Bishop Mark Napier Trollope.
> color:#003300'In the
> book Mark Napier Trollope Bishop in Corea 1911-1930 (London:
> Society for promoting Christian knowledge, 1936, p.16, it is mentioned
> that he was a keen collector of old Korean books, his library of old
Korean
> books numbered something round ten thousand volumes, and contains many
> priceless editions. Any information would be much appreciated.
> color:#003300'Best regards,
> color:#003300'
> color:#003300'Minh Chung
> color:#003300'The Bodleian Library 
> color:#003300'University of Oxford
--
Ross King
Professor of Korean and Head,
Department of Asian Studies, 
University of British Columbia, 

and 

Dean, Korean Language Village, 
Concordia Language Villages

Mailing address: 
Ross King, Department of Asian Studies, UBC
Asian Centre, 1871 West Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
CANADA

vox: 604-822-2835
fax: 604-822-8937
http://www.asia.ubc.ca/people/faculty/ross-king.html