LIFE IN COREA by CARLES, W.R., F.R.G.S. (William Richard Carles, 1848-1929) - 1888

London: Macmillan, 1888. Octavo, maroon pictorial cloth gilt, black endpapers. pp [2], xiv, 317, [1], (2, ads) + frontispiece, colour folding map, and one other plate; 36 vignette illustrations in text. Slight rubbing to gilt image on front cover; cracked inner hinge neatly repaired, hardly noticable; memorial bookplate of Ross H. Macdonald (1913-81), and ink signature of another Macdonald, on blank leaf at front; book just a little leaned; page edges yellowed; else a fine copy. Carles served as British Vice-Consul in Korea for 18 months 1884-85. An early book in English on Korea, which had been closed to Westerners until recently, but not the first book in English on the "Hermit Kingdom", as is sometimes claimed. A fairly scarce book Prof. Macdonald, of Victoria College, University of Toronto, taught the first course on Korean culture (1971-72) at a Canadian university; an undergraduate scholarship in East Asian studies is awarded by the University of Toronto in his memory. Note: 1.5 kg parcel, extra postage may be required.. First Edition. Hardcover.