Photographs and records of Russian travelers at the end of the 19th century: an underestimated resource in the study of early relations between Russia and Korea

Title:

Photographs and records of Russian travelers at the end of the 19th century: an underestimated resource in the study of early relations between Russia and Korea

Creator:

Samsonov, Denis A.

Identifier:

https://cdk.lib.cas.cz/client/handle/uuid:617d2e62-8a7d-461c-8aba-647b8bde3845
uuid:617d2e62-8a7d-461c-8aba-647b8bde3845

Type:

model:article and TEXT

Format:

bez média and svazek

Description:

The article deals with the illustrations archive of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, the Russian Academy of Sciences (MAE RAS); known simply as Kunstkamera. The Museum boasts an extensive photographic collection. In total, the Museum’s illustrations archive contains more than ten collections on Korea, including photographs and slides, as well as post cards depicting scenes from traditional ways of life. They also provide us with illustrations covering Seoul, its neighboring towns and views of Korean villages in remote provinces. The oldest collections date back to the second half of the 19th century. The pictures of this period are of particular interest for researchers. The central theme of the article focuses on the three collections of pictures. The first, collected by Karl I. Weber (1841-?), who served as the first Russian chargé d’affaires to Korea, illustrates the initial period of active relations between Russia and Korea. The second, collected by the talented publicist, historian, Orientalist and philologist, Sergey N. Syromyatnikov (1864-1933), who visited Korea twice in 1897 and 1898, illustrates the warmest and most intense period of Russo-Korean relations. The third collection of pictures, taken during the expedition under Alexander I. Zvegintsov (1869-1915) to the northern part of Korea in the autumn of 1898, illustrates Russia’s geopolitical interest in the region. The material under consideration, which arrived at the MAE RAS between the end of the 19th and the middle of the 20th century, has not yet been fully investigated by specialists. This article is the first attempt to conduct a systematic investigation of the Kunstkamera collection. The paper presents a primary description of the collections, attempts to date the photographs, seeks to systematize and verify material in relation to the collectors, currently scattered in various resources, and provides a brief description of the historical context which defines the ethnographical and historical value of the individual collections. Several pictures are published for the first time.

Language:

English

Rights:

http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
policy:public

Source:

Archiv orientální | 2008 Volume:76 | Number:2

Harvested from:

CDK

Metadata only:

false