국립중앙박물관 소장 戊申字竝用 한글 금속활자 고증

Abstract

The Joseon produced dozens of different editions of movable types under the projects led by government. Most of the movable types featured Chinese characters which were the dynasty’s official writing system. However, some types featured Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, used for publishing “Korean” books to edify the masses. Without any record on the materials for making the movable Hangeul types used with the Musin-ja, Imjin-ja and Jeongyu-ja types, scholars assumed that they were wooden movable types on the basis of the books printed with them. In this study I carried out a close examination of the condition of the printing and the shape of the types used for the books printed with the Musin-ja, Imjin-ja and Jeongyu-ja types and concluded that the Hangeul types used in the early Hangeul books printed with the Musin-ja type were also movable metal types. The Musin-ja types were cast in 1669 and henceforth used to print a large quantity of books right up until the reign of King Yeongjo(r. 1724-1776). The intensive use of these types over such an extended period of time led to the additional casting of types-wooden movable types this time-to supplement the original edition. The books also show that the Hangeul types, too, came to be supplemented by an increasing number of wooden types. The Hangeul types used for Korean translations of the Chinese texts printed by the Imjin-ja and Jeongyu-ja types were largely wooden movable types. A closer examination of the condition of the printing in the books clearly reveals that a set of newly carved wooden Hangeul types were used along with the old metal types that had previously been used for the books printed with the Musin-ja type. Among the National Museum of Korea’s collection of Hangeul movable metal types are the Hangeul types used for the books printed with the Musin-ja, Imjin-ja and Jeongyu-ja types. In this study these types are termed as Musinja Byeongyong Hangeul Geumsokhwalja(Movable Metal Types of the Korean Alphabet Combined with the Musin- ja Type). This study, by comparing the remaining types with some of the characteristic types used for the books printed with the Musin-ja, Imjin-ja and Jeongyu-ja types, concludes that the types collected by the National Museum of Korea are the ones actually used for printing those books.