Pièce 1 - Diary of J.F. Rock Volume 5; Hsi-ning to Cho-ni

Zone d'identification

Cote

GB 235 JFR/1/1/8/1

Titre

Diary of J.F. Rock Volume 5; Hsi-ning to Cho-ni

Date(s)

  • 1925-1926 (Production)
  • 1945-1946 (Accumulation)

Niveau de description

Pièce

Étendue matérielle et support

1 diary

Zone du contexte

Nom du producteur

(1884-1962)

Notice biographique

Born Vienna, Austria 1884; died Hawaii 1962
Relatively uneducated, penniless and often in poor health Joseph Rock left Vienna as a young man in 1902, travelling through Europe and on to the United States. Moving to Hawaii where he was appointed by the Division of Forestry as its first botanical collector, he became a naturalised American in 1913. Although self taught as a botanist, Rock was appointed lecturer at the College in Hawaii, established its first herbarium, and served as its first curator from 1911 until 1920. In 1920 he was appointed by the US Department of Agriculture to find a tree in south east Asia the oil from which was supposed to be useful in treating leprosy. This was the start of his new life as an explorer and in 1922 he arrived in Lijiang, Yunnan which was to become his ‘home’ province though he also travelled widely in Szechuan, Gansu and also Tibet. He was to spend the next 27 years living among the people of the Western Provinces of China collecting plants for western museums and exploring and mapping mountains on the Tibetan border. Working for organisations such as Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum, the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Natural History Museum and the National Geographic Society, he photographed and wrote about the indigenous plants, people and geography of the remote region. He entered the lamaseries of Tibet and became deeply involved in the social and political conditions that affected Western China, witnessing much brutality during various rebellions. He was forced to leave communist China in 1949, but continued travelling around the world, eventually returning to Hawaii where he died in 1962. Rock bequeathed his extensive photographic collection to the archives of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, alongside his diaries documenting his travels.
Source: ‘In China’s Border Provinces; The Turbulent Career of Joseph Rock’ S.B. Sutton. ‘Joseph Rock and His Shangri-La’ Jim Goodman. Archives
D.W.

Histoire archivistique

Source immédiate d'acquisition ou de transfert

Zone du contenu et de la structure

Portée et contenu

Diary of J.F. Rock Volume 5; Hsi-ning to Cho-ni, 1925-1926 entitled Diary Vol V of Joseph F. Rock, Director Arnold Arboretum Harvard Expedition, from Sining [Hsi-ning] to Choni [Cho-ni] via Shunhoa [Hsun-hua] Labrang; November 21st 1925 to April 22nd 1926
Includes New Year 1945-1946
Includes loose sheet of Chinese writing

Évaluation, élimination et calendrier de conservation

Accroissements

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Zone des conditions d'accès et d'utilisation

Conditions d’accès

Collection is open to researchers by appointment, see (right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/visiting-the-library/

Conditions de reproduction

Permission required from RBGE.

Langue des documents

  • chinois
  • anglais
  • tibétain

Écriture des documents

Notes de langue et graphie

Caractéristiques matérielle et contraintes techniques

Diary covers are loose and there are page inserts so care required when handling.
Diary will need to be supported when open.

Instruments de recherche

Instrument de recherche téléversé

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Existence et lieu de conservation des originaux

Existence et lieu de conservation des copies

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Zone des notes

Note

A scan of a photocopy of the diary is available for personal research via the link below:
(right click, open link in new tab) https://rbge.resourcespace.com/?r=4033&k=400cf0de33
For permission to use the material, please contact the RBGE Library.

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Note de l'archiviste

This diary may contain, either in its content or catalogue description, terminology, language and attitudes which are today considered inappropriate, outdated, offensive or distressing.

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