Treasures of the Area Studies Collections: Reconsidering Primary Sources and Collections
Southeast Asia
Under the supervision of its Librarian, Brandon Miliate, and with Council contributions, Yale maintains one of the most extensive Southeast Asia collections in the United States.
The Southeast Asia Collection is located primarily in Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library along with affiliated schools (Social Science Library, Forestry Library, Law Library, and Divinity Library). Materials in the Collection are in both western and vernacular languages of the countries covered, and primarily emphasize the social sciences and humanities. (The Economic Growth Center Collection, located in the Social Science Library, contains economic surveys, statistical publications, development plans and censuses from over 100 developing countries, including those of Southeast Asia.)
The Yale University Library began collecting material on Southeast Asia in 1899, when Clive Day was appointed to its faculty and a teaching program concerning Southeast Asia was initiated (see Yale SEAS History). It was due to this early start that the library was able to acquire many of its now out-of-print serials, especially from the Dutch East Indies. Historical developments after the Second World War provided a further impetus to the program, and in 1947 Yale established its Southeast Asia Studies Program, the first area studies program in the United States to embark on the study of Southeast Asia in all disciplines. The library added special staff to work in this area and to assure continuous acquisition of this material, now designated as the Southeast Asia Collection.
Check out the Research Guide for Southeast Asian Studies to learn more.
Painted Hornbill (Kenyalang)
Wood and paint
81 × 93 × 18 cm (31 7/8 × 36 5/8 × 7 1/16 in.)
Promised gift of Thomas Jaffe, B.A. 1971
Geography: Made in probably Saribas, Borneo, Indonesia
Culture: Iban
Classification: Sculpture
An Lãng Chiêu Thiền Tự Từ Đạo Hạnh sự tích thực lục
Original woodblock or brush ink texts and translations of Han Nom texts into modern Romanized Vietnamese collected by Maurice Durand, a prominent Vietnamese/French scholar of Han Nom from the mid-20th century. Han Nom script uses classical Chinese characters to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, while other words are represented using locally created characters based on the Chinese model.
Maurice M. Durand (born 1914) was a prominent French scholar of Vietnam and China. He also served as director of the École française d'Extrême-Orient in Hanoi, Vietnam, and as director of the École Pratique des Hautes Études de la Sorbonne in Paris, France. Durand died on April 30, 1966.