「中東文庫」의 장서 현황과 자료 가치에 관한 일고

Abstract

The Joongdong Library was the first high school library in Korea, founded in 1922 by Baeknong Choi Gyu-dong. It is said that in terms of the amount of books it contained, it was second only to Gyeongseong Imperial University at the time. Many of the collected books have been stored in the basement of the Joongdong Academy, and some have been stored in the birthplace of Mr. Choi Gyu-dong. Later, due to storage issues, the books that were stored at the Joongdong Academy were donated to the Sungkyunkwan University Jongyeonggak, and those that were kept at the birthplace of Professor Choi Gyu-dong were donated to the Institute for the Translation of Korean classics. In terms of book composition, the Joongdong Library held by the Jongyeonggak consists mainly of Tripitaka Korea and Chinese Congshu(叢書), while the Joongdong library held by the Institute for the Translation of Korean classics consists mainly of single volumes. The Joongdong Library contains Korean and Chinese books collected by the Joongdong Academy during the Japanese colonial period. Not only is the number of books in the library quite large, but there are also many books with great documentary value in terms of quality. In particular, considering the special circumstances of the Japanese colonial period, it is a noteworthy fact in modern Korean book collection activities that a single high school collected and managed the collection of books called the Joongdong Library. However, the Joongdong Library donated to the Institute for the Translation of Korean classics and Jongyeonggak have not been donated for very long, so there is considerable room for supplementing the basic research findings. A more detailed investigation will be required in the future to produce an accurate bibliography. At the same time, excavation and research on materials related to the formation of the Joongdong Library and the collection of books should continue.