Unlocking Treasures: Archival Research at University of Pennsylvania

Treasure Hunt Without a Map ARCHIVAL RESEARCH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA MEGHAN STRONG

The Archives University of Pennsylvania Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the Kislak Center The goal: to create research opportunities for lower level humanities students, building skills they will need in future research, and to encourage use of the resources at UPenn

Exercises Introductory materials for archival research Marian Anderson paleography and transcription Walt Whitman annotation and primary sources Montaigne translation and etymology

Marian Anderson African-American singer, 1897-1993 Thousands of fan letters housed in the archives 100+ boxes Transcription of letters Creating a person through his or her letters

The Other Marian

Walt Whitman Collections on Whitman and the Delaware River Port Authority Naming of the Walt Whitman bridge Social and political perceptions of Whitman in different decades

The Walt Whitman Bridge Controversy

Montaignes Of Cannibals Introduction to the Oxford English Dictionary Analysis of early translations For advanced French students: analysis of original French vs. English translations; development of translation techniques

Cannibal Etymology: In 16th cent. plural Canibales, < Spanish Canibales, originally one of the forms of the ethnic name Carib or Caribes, a fierce nation of the West Indies, who are recorded to have been anthropophagi, and from whom the name was subsequently extended as a descriptive term.Professor J. H. Trumbull, of Hartford, has pointed out that l , n , r interchange dialectally in American languages, whence the variant forms Caniba , Caribe , Galibi : and that Columbus's first representation of the name as he heard it from the Cubans was Canibales , explained as los de Caniba or Canima ; when he landed on Hayti, he heard the name of the people as Caribes and their country Carib ; the latter was afterwards identified with Puerto Rico, named by the Spaniards Isla de Carib , which in some islands , Columbus says, they call Caniba , but in Hayti Carib . Apparently, however, it was only foreigners who made a place-name out of that of the people: according to Oviedo ( Hist. Gen. II. viii.) caribe signifies brave and daring , with which Prof. Trumbull compares the Tupi caryba superior man, hero, vir . Calib- (in CALIBAN n.) is apparently another variant = carib-an; compare Galibi above-mentioned. Columbus's notion on hearing of Caniba was to associate the name with the Grand Khan, whose dominions he believed to be not far distant; he held que Caniba no es otra cosa sino la gente del Gran Can . To connect the name with Spanish can, Italian cane, Latin canis dog, was a later delusion, entertained by Geraldini, Bp. of San Domingo, 1521 5; it naturally tickled the etymological fancy of the 16th cent., and may have helped to perpetuate the particular form canibal in association with the sense anthropophagi. See Prof. Trumbull's article, in N. & Q. 5th Ser. IV. 171. (Oxford English Dictionary)

The Importance of Archival Research Training in the idea that research does not yield instant gratification Particular emphasis on opportunities for lower level humanities students Early development of research techniques Experience with primary sources

Thank you

Montaigne Questions How does what you have just learned about the words cannibal, savage, and barbarian play a role in these translations? What is the last line of each version and how do they differ? Why might each of the translators have chosen to translate the last line in this way? How might readers have understood this essay (and its translations) differently in the context of how these words are defined? Why do you think Montaigne titled his essay Of Cannibals but never uses the word cannibal in the body of the essay?