Collection of Early Korea Photographs

This collection of approximately 4,000 photographs and photographic publications is probably the most important of its kind in private or institutional hands. Assembled by photo-historian and writer Terry Bennett over a period of 40 years, the collection represents Korea's visual history (1866–1920) through approximately 40 multiple-plate panoramas, 32 albums, more than 60 groups or series, and over 350 individual photographs, postcards, and photographic publications—an unprecedented archive in a rare field. Highlights include works by Felice Beato, Herbert Ponting, Ueno Hikoma, Ichida Sōta I, Thomas Child, John Thomson, and many others. Of particular note are two rare albums by Felice Beato documenting the US Naval Expedition to Kanghwado in 1871; these comprise what is thought to be the most comprehensive surviving photographic record of the expedition. Other highlights include a large seven-plate panorama of Pusan, along with views of Chemulpo, Seoul, and Asan. The collection's scope provides an invaluable visual resource for the study of Korean history. It contains a significant group of portraits and carte-de-visite studies from the earliest known series of photographs of Korea, taken during a French military expedition in 1866. It also includes unique portraits of King Kojong, Crown Prince Sejong, and Queen Min, as well as scenes from imperial funerals, rare views of Pusan and Gensan [Wonsan], and images of daily life and customs. Foreign industrial, missionary, and military interests are well represented. These include American gold mining and engineering efforts—in particular, the Seoul–Chemulpo Railway of 1897–1899; photographs taken by the future Bishop of Korea during the 1890s; and an important photograph of Father Félix-Claire Ridel, one of the few French missionaries to survive a mass execution in 1866. The collection also features several groups of photographs taken by British naval officers in Port Hamilton, Seoul, and Kanghwa; others captured from German, French, and American warships; and documentation of the Japanese march into Seoul in 1904, including Marquis Ito’s entrance into the city.