author
R. B. (Rufus Benton) Peery
b. 1868
A Lutheran missionary, minister, and college president, he wrote vividly about Japan for late-19th-century American readers. His best-known book, The Gist of Japan, blends travel, culture, and missionary observation.
1 Audiobook
The Gist of Japan: The Islands, Their People, and Missions
by R. B. (Rufus Benton) Peery
About the author
Born in Virginia in 1868, Rufus Benton Peery became a Lutheran clergyman and spent part of his career as a missionary in Japan. Contemporary and library records also identify him as an educator, and a Kansas biographical sketch says he became president of Midland College in Atchison in 1912.
Peery is best remembered as the author of The Gist of Japan: The Islands, Their People, and Missions, published in 1897. Catalog and archive records also list Lutherans in Japan, showing that Japan and Christian missions were central subjects in his writing.
Available genealogical and memorial records give his lifespan as April 9, 1868 to October 25, 1934. A clear, verifiable portrait was not readily available from the pages I could confirm, so no profile image is included.