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MARGARET MATILDA HARDIE, [MRS ROBERT ALEXANDER HARDIE] : 1925 ORIGINAL UNCOMMON EAST TO WEST MANUSCRIPT TRAVEL DIARY HANDWRITTEN BY A NOTED METHODIST MISSIONARY'S WIFE ON A TRIP BACK HOME TO AMERICA WHERE THE WORK OF CHRISTIAN OUTREACH CONTINUES

16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall. On offer is a fascinating, original 1925 - 1926 manuscript travel diary handwritten by Ontario Canada born Margaret Matilda Hardie, nee Kelley, (1863 - 1946) wife of Robert Alexander Hardie (also born in Ontario 1865 - 1946), a renowned Southern Methodist medical missionary to Seoul Korea in the early 20th Century. [The Hardie's contribution to Korea was noted in the book 'The Role of Robert Alexander Hardie in the Korean Great Revival and the Subsequent Development of Korean Protestant Christianity' by Chil-Sung Kim.] Uniquely this travel diary, dated December 23, 1925 to June 11, 1926, concerns the Hardie's 4 month furlough trip back to the USA from Korea via the western route through the Middle East and Europe and then some time in the USA. The wonderment of diaries written by the wives of important men is that the diary is in fact about Robert as much as Margaret. Historians and researchers of Christian outreach in Korea will find this book a dual treasure: an East to West travel diary and six weeks of the Hardie's work in the USA. In fact no sooner do they return than they meet at the Korea Club and after a brief rest Robert heads for Memphis on ministry work. The opening entry begins, "We left Seoul on Dec. 23rd. A large crowd was at the station to see us off." The diary goes on to relate the Hardie's voyage to Hiroshima (Japan) and the train ride to Kobe where they board the SS Macedonia bound for Shanghai (China). From there it's on to Singapore, the Bay of Bengal, Colombo in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Aden, the coast of Africa and the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, Port Said (Egypt), Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the Holy Land (present-day Israel), Athens (Greece), Naples, Rome, Pisa, Florence (Italy), Paris (France), London (England), Edinburgh and Glasgow (Scotland), Belfast and Dublin (Ireland), and then back to London for the Atlantic Ocean crossing to New York, where they arrive on April 28, 1926 after a journey of just over four months. The remainder of the diary concerns the Hardies' travels and doings in the USA. The 6.25" x 4" diary book itself is of Japanese manufacture and comes in a slip sleeve. Overall VG.. Manuscript. Book Condition: Very Good

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