HIST 29636: Japan and the US: 19th Century Encounters

Monday through Friday: 9:00 am to 4:45pm. 

When classes at the University of Chicago are in session, we are open until 5:45pm on Tuesday and Wednesday. We are not open Saturday or Sunday.

The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center is located on the first floor of Regenstein Library: 1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637

It is ethically imperative to always cite sources correctly and thoroughly in order to credit the original records creators and to lead other scholars to the materials. Proper citation should lead your readers directly and unambiguously to the sources you have consulted.

The crucial points to cover in your citation should include the following:

1. Author or creator's name
2. Title of the work
3. Date
4. Publication information
5. Collection name
6. Box and folder
7. Repository (archive that houses the material)

Remember that your citation should include as much identifying information as possible. Start with the most specific detail--the item title or description--and end with the broadest piece of information--the name of the repository.

Here's an example of a citation of a speech from one our collections:

Abbott, Edith, "Excerpts of Address at National Women's Trade Union League Nebraska," 1934.  Abbott, Edith and Grace. Papers, [Box 24, Folder 13], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library. 

This citation leads a reader directly back to the original source. 

Special Collections holds a variety of materials pertaining to encounters between Japan and the West, including rare books, manuscripts, and materials within our archival collections.  Below is a list highlighting manuscript and archives holdings from pre-1900 or early 20th-century time periods.

Majima, Seigan. Majima Aammoku Ichibu No Gokui No Makimono

Handwritten copy, in Japanese, of The Secret Principles of Part of the Majima School of Ophthalmology. Illustrated with colored pen and ink drawings. (The Majima School was an old and reputable school of Japanese Ophthalmology. The books' contents were transmitted through lectures; students were never allowed to see the books and their whole contents, but were allowed upon their graduation to copy portions from the scroll.)

Starr, Frederick. Papers

Frederick Starr (1858-1933) Assistant professor of anthropology, University of Chicago, 1892-95; associate professor, 1895-1923. Curator of the anthropological section, Walker Museum, University of Chicago, 1895-1923 Contains professional and personal correspondence; research material; field notebooks; diaries; class lecture notes; memorabilia; photographs; bibliographies; and scrapbooks. Correspondents include Frank Boas, W.E.B. Du Bois, Federico Gamboa, William Rainey Harper, John Haynes Holmes, Jenkin Lloyd Jones, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Julius Rosenwald, and Albion Small. Topics relate to Starr's interests and involvement in the former Belgian Congo, Liberia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Mexico, Central America, and the World's Columbian Exposition.

Stent, G.C., Chinese Eunuchs: Or, the Origin, Character, Dress, Duties, and Preparation of the Castrati of China

Typescript essay on the history of eunuchs in China. Includes holograph introduction by Charles Needham, with additional notes on castration in ancient Syria, Greece, and 19th-century Italy. Also includes printed copy of Stent's, Chinesische Eunuchen (Leipzig; Otto Schulze, n.d.); and a printed copy of Henry G. Anthony, "Cryptorchidism, with a report of two cases of natural eunuchs," from Journal of the American Medical Association, August 2, 1902.

Yoshitoyo, Ichiryusai. Mashin teate kiho no ben, Makiyama Sensei dempo

Handwritten text in Japanese, "About the special way to treat the measles; Dr. Makiyama's remedy." Illustrated with colored woodcut. Includes typescript translation of text from Japanese into English.

Watch this tutorial to learn how to register as a user and request materials housed in Special Collections: