Archival “discoveries” — fantastic finds or signs of a field in need of help?
Two themes that have cropped up repeatedly this semester with regard to archive management is the importance of archivists knowing their collections, and getting those collections processed. (I think we can all agree that it is much harder to know your collection if it hasn’t been processed.) The solution seems straightforward enough — assess your collections, get everything processed, and then regularly review finding aids and holdings to know what is there. And yet it just is not that simple, and the road to fully processed collections and archivists who really know their collections has more than a few roadblocks.
In the news this semester, we read about curators at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California discovering that in their collection they had two sections of the Yongle Encyclopedia, a sixteenth-century Chinese manuscript. No one will argue that this discovery isn’t fantastic — it is. But the fact that it has been at the Huntington since 1968 and no one realized what it was highlights the challenges of an archivist to fully know their collection. According to the Huntington press release on the discovery, the item had not even been catalogued. A lack of staff, time and funding for expert assessment and processing can leave items languishing on shelves of years.
Even though “More Product, Less Process” wasn’t part of the archival vocabulary in 1968, the Yongle Encyclopedia discovery is a great example of where even the smallest amount of processing could have helped. At the time the Huntington curators did not know the magnitude of what they had been given. I do not believe this reflects badly on the Huntington — they knew they had something that was likely worth saving and at least kept it. However, if it had at least been catalogued as “Chinese Manuscript, origin and date unknown, translation needed,” there would have been the opportunity for the archivists to keep an eye out for anyone who might be able to translate it and identify it. On the researcher side, perhaps someone would have seen the entry in a finding aid or catalogue and known someone who could have taken a look at the work. It might not have taken over 45 years to discover what they had.
Setting aside the processing issue, the next roadblock to knowing the contents of this manuscript is expertise for assessment. Obviously, when the piece came into the Huntington, there was no one on staff at the time who could fully assess the piece. In 1968, relations between the Chinese and American government were not ideal, and working directly with Chinese scholars would have been difficult at best. Locally, finding experts would have been a challenge as well. Cal State LA did not have a Chinese studies center until 1980, and UCLA did not have a dedicated Chinese studies department until 1986.
Finally, there is the cost. Unless you already have an expert on staff, getting an outside appraisal requires funding, and funding has been a continuing issue with libraries, archives, and special collections.
Yet another interesting part of the Yongle Encyclopedia discovery has nothing to do with archival practices today, but with manuscript management during the Jiajing reign in China during the sixteenth century. At that time, copies of the Yongle Encyclopedia were made to ensure its safety — according to the Huntington piece, there are an estimated 400 volumes remaining in the world today. Over 450 years ago in China, the analog version of “Lots Of Copies Keep Stuff Safe” was alive and well and being implemented for important manuscripts. Given that the original Yongle Encyclopedia was later lost during the Ming dynasty, modern day archivists definitely need to give a professional nod to the archival practices that the Chinese implemented over four centuries ago.
The discovery of these sections of the Yongle Encyclopedia are genuinely thrilling for archivists and students of Chinese culture and manuscripts. Even Li Wei Yang, the archivist at the Huntington who first realized what the manuscript might be, said, “The Huntington constantly uncovers or rediscovers historical materials, but this has to stand out as extraordinary. A Chinese historical treasure at the library is a real surprise.” To be the archivist that actually figures out the significance of a particular holding must be amazing. But, as a community of archivists, we have to be careful of overly romanticizing these discoveries and focus on what can be improved in archival management so these “finds” will happen shortly after a collection arrives at an archive rather than 46 years later.
The Huntington will also have the Yongle Encyclopedia on display from December 13, 2014 to March 16, 2015, and there will be a free lecture on the Yongle Encyclopedia on January 8, 2015. If you’re in the area, I think it would be worth the trip to see it. They have digitized the work and will be putting it online as well.
(Background image of Archivo de Historias Médicas by Marino González CC BY-NC-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/merlin1487/5518280677.)
