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© 2007 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Last update on 2010 November 1
Repository: Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
Location: Harvard Depository
Note: This collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. See access restrictions below for additional information.
Call No.: MS Am 2532
Creator: Keller, Carl Tilden,1872-1955, collector.
Title: Carl Tilden Keller collection concerning Sir Aurel Stein,
Date(s): 1922-1945.
Quantity: 3 boxes (1.5 linear ft.)
Note: Collection materials are primarily in English. Some items in Chinese and Uighur.
Abstract: Papers relating to explorer Sir Aurel Stein, assembled by his friend, Carl Tilden Keller.
Carl Tilden Keller (1872-1955) was a Harvard College graduate (AB 1894), an accountant, partner with Lybrand, Ross Bros. & Montgomery in Boston, and a book collector. In 1898 he married Marian Mandell Keller (d.1954). He was a vice chairman and trustee of the Harvard Yenching Institute. As a collector of rare materials, Keller was especially known for collecting rare editions of Cervantes' Don Quixote and for attempting to obtain translations of Don Quixote in all major languages of the world. Keller was a friend and supporter of Sir Aurel Stein.Sir (Marc) Aurel Stein (1862-1943) was a Hungarian born, British scholar, Indologist, archaeologist, explorer, and geographer. In 1883, he received a Ph.D. in Indology and Old Persian from the Universität Tübingen. Stein's archaeological expeditions eventually took him to the Silk Road, the overland trading route between China and the West. He also retraced Alexander the Great's eastern campaigns. His expeditions took him to India, Pakistan, China, Chinese Turkestan, Iraq, and Persia. Stein's greatest discoveries were at Tun-huang where he found the "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas," which contained an incredible store of manuscripts and frescoes. The caves had served as a storehouse from the 5th to the 10th centuries but had been walled off since the 11th century. Stein's discovery is said to be the greatest archeological find ever made in Asia. Some of Stein's later explorations were funded by Harvard University and he also presented lectures at Harvard's Lowell Institute. Stein died in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1943, at age eighty, just before commencing an expedition.
Organized into the following series:
- I. Carl Tilden Keller papers concerning Sir Aurel Stein
- A. Carl Tilden Keller correspondence
- B. Other correspondence
- C. Other materials
- II. Sir Aurel Stein papers
- A. Sir Aurel Stein correspondence
- B. Other correspondence
- C. Other materials
Papers include correspondence between Keller and Stein and among Keller's circle of friends who were scholars or patrons also interested in Stein's archaeological expeditions. Some correspondence pertains to Stein's 1929 series of lectures given at the Lowell Institute.In January of 1930, Harvard University (cooperatively via Havard's Fogg Art Museum and the Harvard Yenching Institute) agreed to financially back Stein as an independent contractor for his explorations into Chinese Turkestan (Central Asia). They also agreed to allow the cooperation of the British Museum. Series II of this collection reflects Harvard's involvement with Stein and also includes Stein's correspondence with British, Chinese, and American officials, related to Stein's political situation in China. There is correspondence between Keller and other Bostonians connected to Harvard, especially including Paul J. (Paul Joseph) Sachs. There are copies of official reports, telegrams, payroll records, and memorandum that detail the events that led to Stein abandoning his expedition in Chinese Turkestan (Central Asia). Included are financial records related to costs of the expedition and information regarding Harvard funding, as well as clippings and reprints by and about Stein.Many of Stein's autograph letters are poor, faint, and fragile carbon copies, and many documents and letters of others are not original, but are typescript, and occasionally manuscript, transcripts.
See also: