0035The Papers of Berthold Laufer, 1874-1934Katherine E. Caiazza 02/2004

Descriptive Overview

American Museum of Natural History, Division of Anthropology Archives

Abstract

Linguist, member of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, leader of the AMNH Jacob H. Schiff Expedition to China, curator at the Field Museum. Notes, catalogues, and correspondence from the Jacob H. Schiff China Expedition, 1901-1904.

Names in bold indicate those individuals whose collections are housed in the Division of Anthropology Archives.

Berthold Laufer was born on October 11, 1874 in Cologne, Germany. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Leipzig in Asian languages in 1897; his dissertation was on Tibetan text. His interest in East Asia led him to study at least ten different languages. In May of 1897, Franz Boas of the American Museum offered Laufer a position on the Museum's Jesup North Pacific Expedition staff. The Jesup Expedition was organized by the Museum to determine the relationship between the peoples of Asia and North America. Teams of archaeologists and ethnologists were sent to both sides of the Pacific for the study. Laufer was hired to lead the team working in the area of the Amur River and on Sakhalin Island in Siberia. He arrived on Sakhalin Island in July of 1898 and remained there through the winter of 1899. While in Siberia, Laufer studied the Gilyak, Tungus (Evenki) and the Ainu. In March 1899, Laufer moved inland to Khabarovsk on the Amur River to study the Goldi (Nanai). Laufer was particularly intrigued by the art of the Goldi and their neighbors and made an excellent collection for the Museum. In total, Laufer collected over 1300 objects for the Museum while in Siberia and Japan. Upon his return, Laufer completed his only publication relating to the Jesup Expedition on the art of the Amur tribes. After the Jesup Expedition, Laufer quickly returned to the Far East to lead the Jacob H. Schiff Expedition to China from 1901 to 1904. Jacob Schiff (1847-1920) was a wealthy banker and the leader of the American Jewish community from 1880 to 1920. Laufer's goal for the expedition was a holistic one - to study the history and culture of the Chinese people. Laufer collected over 7500 objects for the Museum as part of the expedition, roughly half of the Museum's total Chinese collections today. In 1908, Laufer left New York and the American Museum to take up the position of curator of Asian Anthropology at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, where he would spend the rest of his scholarly career. While at the Field Museum he undertook two more trips to the Far East; in 1908-1910 to Tibet and China as leader of the Blackstone Expedition and in 1923, again to China, on the Marshall Field Expedition. In his lifetime, Laufer authored over two hundred works on topics ranging from philology to art and archaeology. He died in Chicago on September 13, 1934.

Found here are Berthold Laufer's original field notebooks from the Jacob H. Schiff China Expedition, in addition to correspondence, a catalogue, and notes on the Chinese collections.

Box 1 • Folder 1Original field notebooks from the China Expedition, Vol. 1, nos. 1-1940 • Folder 2Original field notebooks from the China Expedition, Vol. 2, nos. 1941-3477 • Folder 3Original field notebooks from the China Expedition, Vol. 3, nos. 3478-5333

Box 2 • Folder 1Shipping lists, Chinese collections • Folder 2Collection notes, China - basketry, kitchen utensils, allied objects • Folder 3Collection notes, China - brick architectural specimens, building materials, pottery manufacture • Folder 4Collection notes, China - clay figures • Folder 5Collection notes, China - cane, bamboo, hemp • Folder 6Collection notes, China - cloisonne work • Folder 7Collection notes, China - clothing, cosmetics • Folder 8Collection notes, China - crockery • Folder 9Collection notes, China - dye stuffs • Folder 10Collection notes, China - embroidery (scrolls, etc.), rugs • Folder 11Collection notes, China - food • Folder 12Collection notes, China - Han roof tiles • Folder 13Collection notes, China - inlaid work, damaskeened, enamel • Folder 14Collection notes, China - kites • Folder 15Collection notes, China - laquer (carved) • Folder 16Collection notes, China - masks (Lamaistic) • Folder 17Collection notes, China - medicine • Folder 18Collection notes, China - metals • Folder 19Collection notes, China - miscellaneous • Folder 20Collection notes, China - money • Folder 21Collection notes, China - music, drama, shadow figures • Folder 22Collection notes, China - painting • Folder 23Collection notes, China - photographs • Folder 24Collection notes, China - printing • Folder 25Collection notes, China - religion • Folder 26Collection notes, China - saddle, harnesses • Folder 27Collection notes, China - smoking, tobacco • Folder 28Collection notes, China - textiles • Folder 29Collection notes, China - tools • Folder 30Collection notes, China - toys, games • Folder 31Collection notes, China - weapons • Folder 32Collection notes, China - wood carvings • Folder 33Galley, "Guide to AMNH Chinese Hall"

Box 3 • Folder 1Letter of introduction for Dr. Berthold Laufer, 1899 • Folder 2Correspondence relating to expedition to China, 1901 • Folder 3Correspondence relating to expedition to China, 1902 • Folder 4Correspondence relating to expedition to China, 1903 • Folder 5Correspondence relating to expedition to China, 1904 • Folder 6Correspondence relating to expedition to China, dates unknown • Folder 7Notes on Chinese collections - Typed copy of catalogue with additional information (copy 1 of 2) • Folder 8Notes on Chinese collections - Typed copy of catalogue with additional information (copy 2 of 2) • Folder 9Correspondence regarding plan of ethnological collection from India, March-May, 1905 • Folder 10Correspondence regarding plan of ethnological collection from India, 1905 • Folder 11Paper patterns mounted on highly acidic paper (very poor condition) • Folder 12Notes on Siberian collection (with Lev Shternberg) • Folder 13Labels written by Lev Shternberg • Folder 14Correspondence with the Field Museum of Natural History regarding the transfer of Laufer's Chinese rubbings, 1920s • Folder 15Correspondence with the Field Museum of Natural History regarding the transfer of Laufer's Chinese rubbings, 1960s • Folder 16Correspondence with the Field Museum of Natural History regarding the transfer of Laufer's Chinese rubbings, 1980s • Folder 17Photocopies of information pertaining to the transfer of Laufer's Chinese rubbings to the Field Museum of Natural History • Folder 18Correspondence - Vassar College and the Laufer Chinese Library, 1980-1981 • Folder 19Laufer Library proposals, March 1989 and June 1991

Box 4 • Plates prepared to illustrate the Galley, "Guide to AMNH Chinese Hall," plates 1-35

Box 5 • Plates prepared to illustrate the Galley, "Guide to AMNH Chinese Hall," plates 36-51 and I-IV

All of the contents of Box 1, Laufer's original field notebooks, as well as all of Laufer's accession files, have been scanned and can be accessed through the Division's website with a password.

Additional correspondence can be found in the Division's correspondence files, 1894-1907.

.L3844, The Papers of Berthold Laufer, 1874-1934, American Museum of Natural History, Division of Anthropology Archives.