Collection ID: LMC 2483
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Collection context

Summary

Abstract:
The Alden mss., 1951-2001, consists of correspondence and research files generated by historian Dauril Alden, 1926-, in preparation of his biography of Dutch and Portuguese colonial historian Charles Ralph Boxer, 1904-2000.
Extent:
8 Boxes
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Item], Alden mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

Charles Ralph Boxer, 1904-2000, was born on the Isle of Wight, England. Boxer studied at the Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst and then served in the British Army for twenty-four years (1923-1947). At the beginning of his military career, peacetime allowed him to study maritime history and collect rare books. He went on to serve for an extended amount of time in Japan as a language officer, then transitioned to intelligence work in Hong Kong. During World War II, he was captured and sent to a Japanese internment camp. He left the army after the war, at which time he resumed the reading and historical research that he had begun as a young man. Though he never earned a history degree, he was offered a professorship at King's College in London in 1947. He served as the Camões Chair of Portuguese and as a professor of the history of the Far East. After retiring from King's College, Boxer served as a visiting professor at Indiana University and as a consultant to the Lilly Library from 1969-1972. He also held a position at Yale University. Over the course of his career as a historian, Boxer produced over 350 publications and received numerous honorary doctorates. He died in 2000 at the age of 96.

Charles R. Boxer: An Uncommon Life: Soldier, Historian, Teacher, Collector, Traveller, a biography by historian Dauril Alden, 1926-, was published in Lisbon by Fundação Oriente in 2001. Alden was born on 12 January 1926 in San Francisco, California. He completed his BA, MA, and PhD at the University of California at Berkeley in the 1950s and subsequently taught history at the University of Seattle.

Scope and Content:

The Alden mss., 1951-2001, consists of correspondence and research files generated by historian Dauril Alden in preparation of his biography of Dutch and Portuguese colonial historian Charles Ralph Boxer, 1904-2000. The correspondence includes letters of Charles Boxer to Dauril Alden and to James Cummins; correspondence between Alden and James Cummins, and Alden and Michael Cooper; as well as Alden correspondence with several Boxer colleagues, family members, and research institutions the author visited and/or from whom he acquired copies of reference and research materials. The bulk of the collection consists of the notes and reference copies, arranged by chapter and then a late draft of the final manuscript, also arranged by chapter.

Acquisition information:
Gift: 2005
Arrangement:

The collection is organized into the following series: I. Notes and research material; II. Correspondence.

Physical location:
ALF (Auxiliary Library Facility)

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is open for research.

Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[Item], Alden mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
1200 East Seventh Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
(812) 855-2452
liblilly@indiana.edu