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Tarn (Nathaniel) papers
M1132
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Table of contents
Description
The Nathaniel Tarn Papers are a particularly rich collection of materials, gathered over nearly sixty years of Tarn's highly-varied
and well-respected career. The Papers include manuscripts of his published and unpublished poetry and prose, notebooks from
his anthropological fieldwork, and correspondence with his personal friends, literary colleagues, and fellow anthropologists.
Also included are audio-visual material and ephemera, as well as a complete set of his publications, in book as well as in
periodical form. The collection arrived at Stanford accompanied by Tarn's own detailed listing of the contents, organized
into three main series: Books and Manuscripts; Literary Correspondence; and, Anthropology and General Scholarship. To this
end, Tarn's original organization and description is duplicated verbatim, with only a few minor editorial corrections changing
the text. Unlisted and un-described materials found in the original accession, along with material added subsequently, have
been inserted where deemed appropriate. Folder titles and descriptive text added during the processing of the Papers appear
within brackets, typically with an explanatory statement. In addition, a fourth series was created for a separate listing
of Audio-Visual Materials for tapes, compact disks, and film not originally listed or described by Tarn. Scope and content
of the particular series follow below.
Background
Nathaniel Tarn was born in Paris, France in 1928. His childhood in Belgium was disrupted in 1939, when the threat of World
War II prompted the family's removal to England. After graduating in history and English from King's College, Cambridge, Tarn
studied anthropology, first at the Sorbonne and then as a Smith-Mundt-Fulbright Scholar at the University of Chicago, where
he completed his doctoral degree based on fieldwork in the Mayan region of Guatemala. Further work in anthropology followed,
with extensive research on Buddhist culture in Burma. Upon his return to England, Tarn received a teaching appointment to
the London School of Economics, followed by a professorship at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies
(SOAS). In addition to his expertise in the Highland Maya area and South East Asia, Tarn has also worked in the Himalayan
region, China, Japan, Cuba, and Alaska.
Extent
82.21 Linear Feet
(186 manuscript boxes, 1 card box, 2 half boxes, 1 carton, 2 flat boxes, 4 VHS, 8 CDs, and 6 16mm film reels)
Restrictions
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.
Availability
The materials are open for research use. Audio-visual materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted
to a digital use copy.