Following the huge success of its first four volumes back in January, “Olje Classics,”a book series consisting of Korean and Western classics recently published four more texts.

Provided by non-profit corporation Olje, the eight-volume series’ newly released books include “Apologia Socrates” by Plato; “Utopia” by Thomas More; “Hangeul Maengja,” writings of Mencius translated into Korean by scholar Lee Eul-ho (1910-1998); “Cheongseong Jabgi,” a collection of various writings written by Joseon scholar Seong Dae-jung (1732-1809).

In January Olje published its first four books of the series ― Plato’s “The Republic,” Aristotle’s “Politics,” “Analects of Confucius,” and “Gowoonjib,” a collection of essays by renowned Silla period (57 B.C.― 935 A.D.) author Choi Chi-won ― at a low price to provide the text to the less fortunate. Olje only published 5,000 copies of the books as limited editions, and put aside 1,000 copies for donations. The remaining 4,000 copies were sold out just a day after hitting the bookstore shelves on Jan. 11.

Olje said the same will apply to the newly published books. Among the 5,000 limited copies, 4,000 were released for sale on April 14. Each copy costs 2,900 won. Remaining 1,000 copies will be donated to various institutions, including libraries and welfare organizations. The 1,000 copies of the first four volumes have already been donated to some 170 organizations, Olje said.

. Local conglomerate SK funded a large part of the cost of the project, while Kyobo Book Centre is in charge of its distribution. The Institute for the Translation of Korean classics also contributed with the publication of the local classics of the series.

Jungwook Hong, the chairman of Olje, said his group plans to introduce more classics that have yet to be introduced to the public. In January, he had announced his vision to publish a total of 100 classics in the next five years.

“We’ve experienced the public’s demand for classics from the success of the first four books back in January,” he said. “We are thinking of many future projects so that classics can be accessible to everyone, instead of a small number of scholars and intellectuals.”

Among the newly released books, Thomas More’s “Utopia” is a translation by late author Joo Yo-sub (1902-1972), whose works include the famous “The Houseguest and My Mother.”

Meanwhile,“Cheongseong Jabgi” introduces scholar Seong Dae-jung and his writings, which touch on the importance of learning, his views on ideal politics, how to treat others, as well as his experience of being the child of a concubine and a noble father.

For more information about the series, call (02) 720-8278.

(dyc@heraldcorp.com)