Biography of Percival Lowell

Abstract

THE life of Percival Lowell by his brother, the president of Harvard College, tells of a very attractive and enthusiastic man. His parents, who belonged to the aristocracy of Boston, brought him up to see that, whether rich or poor, he ought to do a life's work. Born in 1855, he graduated with distinction in 1876, and after a year's travel spent six years in business as the head of a large cotton mill. He resigned this post in 1883, and went to Japan to study the language and manners of the people. With Prof. Perry he made a trip from Tokio over the mountains to the other side of the island and was struck by the influence of the West on the political conditions of the country. On his return he accepted with diffidence an appointment as foreign secretary and counsellor to a mission from Korea to the United States. On his return to Japan he accompanied the mission to Soul. He gives an account of this journey with a study of the Koreans in his first book “Chosou—the land of Morning Calm—A Sketch of Korea”.

Biography of Percival Lowell

By A. Lawrence Lowell. Pp. x + 212 + 5 plates. (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1935.) 12s. 6d. net.