STAFF RESOURCES |
Written by
Robert Sewell & Ruth Simmons, 1994
Revised by Fernanda H. Perrone, 2008
The cornerstones of the Westerners in Japan and East Asia Collection in Special Collections and University Archives (SC/UA) are the William Elliot Griffis and the Arthur Waley collections. Since both William Elliot Griffis (1843- 1928) and Arthur Waley (1889-1966) were early interpreters of East Asia to the West, SC/UA collects rare and unique materials that complement these collections.
William Elliot Griffis, a graduate of the Rutgers College Class of 1869, has been called the foremost interpreter of Japan to the West before the First World War. As well as a traveler and prolific author, Griffis was a collector of books, documents, photographs, and ephemera about Japan and those countries in her sphere of influence, particularly Korea, as well as about many other subjects. He gave a substantial group of personal papers, books, and manuscripts to Rutgers during his lifetime, and after his death by bequest, which has since been augmented by other related materials. At the same time, Griffis donated his Japanese-language book collection to the Charles W. Wason Collection on East Asia at Cornell University. Since Rutgers possessed no special collections library at the time of Griffis' original donation, his books were placed in the circulating collections and some were ultimately transferred to the RUL Annex storage facility. Beginning in the 1980s, an effort has been made to reunite Griffis' books in the X-GRIF sub-location of the SC/UA rare books collection.
As well as books and manuscripts owned by Griffis, SC/UA aims to collect a complete set of books written by him. While most are already in the collection, SC/UA looks for any that may have been missed, such as additional editions of Griffis' seminal works The Mikado's Empire and Korea The Hermit Nation, and introductions or prefaces he wrote for books about East Asia composed by other authors. Unfortunately no definitive bibliography of Griffis' writings is extant. Although Rutgers already holds most of Griffis' manuscript material, letters and other items are purchased as funds are available. Similarly, SC/UA collects material that complements Griffis' holdings, particularly contemporary works, papers, and artifacts by or related to the yatoi or foreign advisors to Japan during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Furthermore, Griffis' position as a major interpreter of Japan and the Japanese during his lifetime suggests that complementary works such as travel accounts and early studies or "interpretations" of Japan published during this period by other authors and scholars should be collected. SC/UA focuses on material in English and European languages dating from Matthew Calbraith Perry's visit to Japan in 1853 to the end of the Taisho period in 1926, which coincided with Griffis' final trip to Japan and death the following year. This material is of interest to the historian not only as first-hand accounts of Japan at the time, but for insights into early Western scholars and travelers, and their perceptions of Japan. Their interpretations, often full of misunderstandings and prejudices, have greatly influenced the Western world's images of this country. These secondary sources can be seen as primary sources for understanding the images and myths that have developed about Japan and to some extent persist today.
The situation of the Waley Collection is slightly different from that of the Griffis Collection. Arthur Waley was a British translator of Chinese and Japanese literature. His creative translations of Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji (1925-1933) and of Chinese poetry beginning in 1916 helped introduce these works to a Western audience. He is also known for his scholarship on Asian philosophy and religion. Although Waley never visited China or Japan, he was fervently anti-colonial, and scorned earlier interpreters of the East such as Griffis.
Rutgers University Libraries' Arthur Waley collection was purchased from a London book dealer in 1963. The collection comprised approximately 300 books, and fourteen boxes of manuscripts, diaries, correspondence, and ephemera belonging to Waley and his partner Beryl de Zoete, an anthropologist and linguist known for her authoritative studies of South Asian dance. Upon receipt of the collection, first editions and inscribed copies were placed in SC/UA, while more ordinary editions were sent to the circulating collections. The books in SC/UA include presentation copies of works by Bloomsbury figures such as Edith Sitwell; books on East Asia used by Waley in his research, including Russian interpretations of China during the height of the Cold War; and translations of Waley's works into various languages. These books have been cataloged to the X-WALEY sub-location of SC/UA's rare book collection. Not all of Waley's approximately 40 books are represented in X-WALEY, so SC/UA plans to purchase early editions in good condition of those that are missing. Another possibility is to reunite the original 300 titles listed at the time of purchase. Some of those deemed suitable for the circulating collections in 1963 may now be of monetary value or are the only remaining copies in the library system.
Arthur Waley gave his Asian language books to the Durham University Library in the United Kingdom, while his family donated a small collection of documents to his alma mater, King's College, Cambridge. Most of Waley's manuscripts, however, remain in private hands. The conceptual connection between the collection development plans related to the Griffis and Waley collections is early Western interpretations of Japan. Translations and interpretations of foreign literatures--both accurate and good as well as inaccurate and bad--help develop impressions by outsiders of the target country. Therefore, to complement the Waley Collection, SC/UA acquires early Western language translations or Western studies of Japanese works published during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Thus, the thrust of future collection development for Special Collections and University Archives in the Westerners in Japan and East Asia Collection will be on materials published in the period 1853 to 1927, primarily about Japan and her neighbors, written by Westerners or about Westerners in Japan, as well as dictionaries and grammars designed to help Japanese and English-speaking audiences learn about each others' languages, and translations from Japanese literature.
These collection development plans should be coordinated with the development of arts collections and other research collections at the Zimmerli Art Museum and its International Center for Japonisme, with the general circulating collections related to these subjects, and with the curricular and research needs of Rutgers' faculty and students.