Starr News

Spring 1997

Now that everyone is settled in for the Spring semester again, we would like to bring you up to date on some of the activities and developments in the C.V. Starr East Asian Library. In this issue you will find a sampling of what is going on. The travel report by Fran LaFleur is a good example of how our librarians represent the Library to the outside world. Policies and customs continue to change, and more and more transactions are being automated, one such option is highlighted below. A new exhibition is coming up soon in the reading room, which we hope many of you will come and see. The collection continues to grow with major new additions, both purchased and through generous gifts from donors, some of which are described here. At the same time we have duplicate materials to dispose of, and this year's sale is coming up soon, so keep reading.

As usual, we would like to remind you that we are here for you. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions related to the Library, or if you simply feel like touching base with us, do by all means stop by the library or contact us in whatever other way you prefer. Names, telephone numbers, and email addresses of our public services staff are appended for your convenience.

1997 DUPLICATE SALE

Starr's annual duplicate sale comes earlier than usual this year. It will take place on Thursday March 6, from 3:00 to 7:00 pm, and on Friday March 7, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. We have lots of good stuff available, at our usual friendly prices, so make sure to stop by.

SAVE THE DATE

The Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture and the Starr East Asian Library, in association with Columbia University Press, will be hosting a reception to celebrate the publication of a volume of essays in honor of Donald Keene, Currents in Japanese Culture: Translations and Transformations, to honor the recipients of the 1996 Japan-US Friendship Commission Japanese Literary Translations Awards, and the reissuing by Columbia University Press of several volumes on Japanese culture. The reception will be held in the reading room of the Starr East Asian Library on Monday, March 31, from 6-8 pm. Please plan to come!

NEW TO THE LIBRARY

The Venerable Master Sheng Yen, lineage holder of both the Ts'ao-tung (Soto) and Lin-chi (Rinzai) traditions of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism, and a world authority on Ch'an, has donated a set of his complete scholarly works on the Ch'an Buddhist scriptures in more than 40 volumes to the Starr Library. Master Sheng Yen is abbot of the Nung Ch'an Monastery and president of the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies and Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Foundation in Taiwan. He and Fran LaFleur met when they both appeared as guests on a talk show on Taiwan Television (TTV) aired last June. The show was moderated by Shih Shu-ch'ing, a contemporary writer of fiction and drama in Taiwan (many of whose works are available in Starr) and the hour-long discussion focused on contrasting attitudes toward life, death and religious practice in the Buddhist and Judeo-Christian traditions.

The discovery of a copy of Oku no Hosomichi in Matsuo Basho's own hand was made public in Japan this past November. The importance of the text is enormous, and an annotated edition - soon to be acquired - has become a bestseller in Japan. Professor Donald Keene has donated a limited edition facsimile edition, likely to be the only such copy available in the United States. It is currently being cataloged, and will soon be available for scholars and students in Special Collections.

Starr Library has entered into a cooperative arrangement with the Humanities Division of New York University's Bobst Library. Aided by an 80% subsidy Starr has been able to order several expensive sets that it otherwise would not have been able to afford. The first of these sets has recently arrived in the Library. It is Hong Kong Annual Administration Reports 1841-1941. (London: Archive Editions, 1996). This is a 6-volume set containing facsimile reprints of administration and related reports, including handwritten ones, covering the first 100 years of British rule in Hong Kong. Some of these reports were never published before. The editorial introduction by Robert L. Jarman includes archival references for each document.

CHINESE ARCHIVES INFORMATION

In August, Fran LaFleur attended the Second International Conference on Chinese Archives held in Jinan, Shandong. More than 20 directors from Chinese archives at all levels - local, provincial, and national - also attended the conference, and presented papers on holdings and current conditions at their respective locations. Fran has collected all the papers which they presented (in Chinese) and they are available in her office for consultation by anyone who is planning a trip to China to do research on traditional and modern history and social science topics. We hope eventually to get permission to publish these reports, but for now they are still considered "nei bu" (internal documents) so they cannot be disseminated or quoted directly. Please contact Fran for more details.

DEPUTY BORROWER APPLICATIONS

More and more library transactions get automated, and can now be performed right at your computer. One of the latest developments is a new service to all non-student Officers of the University. It is now possible to process the entire application for a library card for your deputy borrowers without leaving your office. Instructions, conditions, and an electronic application form are now available on LWeb at:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/services/lio/borrowing/deputy.html

ARTHUR WALEY EXHIBITION

Coming soon in the reading room exhibition space (near the exit) is a display on the great Asia specialist Arthur D. Waley. This remarkable British scholar's work covered a broad range of subjects and cultures, almost unthinkable in this age of hyper-specialization. He translated, among other things, poetry, classical literature, and theatrical work from Chinese, Japanese, even Ainu. In addition he wrote studies on such subjects as the Opium War, Chinese philosophy, and Chinese painting; composed his own poetry, and wrote innumerable book reviews. An entire bibliography is dedicated to him (Johns, Francis A. A Bibliography of Arthur Waley. 2nd ed. London; Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Athlone Press, 1988. Call # Z8947.4 .J6 1988). The exhibition aims to highlight the great diversity of Waley's scholarship. Professor Donald Keene, himself a Waley disciple, has kindly offered to provide materials from his personal collection, thereby helping us to keep Starr's holdings of Waley publications available during the exhibition, for those who are inspired by it.

KOREAN STUDIES LIBRARIAN COMING SOON

Hyokyoung Lee, a graduate of Ehwa Woman's University in Seoul and the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies at Rutgers University, and currently working as a librarian at Sandoz Pharmaceutical Corporation, will join the Starr staff this spring. Amy Lee, who has graciously interrupted her retirement activities to keep the Korean acquisitions coming, will then be able to truly retire.

PRIMARY PUBLIC SERVICE CONTACTS

Library Director: Amy V. Heinrich. 305M Kent. (212) 854-1508. heinrich@columbia.edu

Library Secretary: D. John McClure. 300 Kent. (212) 854-2578. mcclure@columbia.edu

Access Services: Kenneth Harlin. 319M Kent. (212) 854-1501. harlin@columbia.edu

East Asian Studies: Ria Koopmans-de Bruijn. 310 Kent. (212) 854-1505. rkb7@columbia.edu

Chinese Studies: Frances LaFleur. 307M Kent. (212) 854-3721. lafleur@columbia.edu

Japanese Studies: Yasuko Makino. 308M Kent. (212) 854-1506. makino@columbia.edu

Korean Studies: Position currently open; contact any of the above. (see notice above)