Guide to the Papers of Gordon Hannington Luce, c.1912-1978

Summary

Collection number:

MS 6574

Creator:

G. H. Luce

Extent:

7.84 metres and (57 boxes + 6 folio boxes + 1 map folio)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Gordon Hannington Luce, National Library of Australia, MS 6574, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The books and papers of Gordon H. Luce, the eminent scholar of Burmese history, were purchased from his family in 1980, one year after his death. Further additional papers were received in 1985 and 1987.

The papers include drafts of his magnum opus, Old Burma - Early Pagan (3 vols.) and also of his second main work Phases of Pre-Pagan Burma, published posthumously in 1985 (2 vols.). Another important group comprises word tables, word charts, word lists and card indexes, comparing the languages of Burma with the classical traditions of China and India, as well as cognate languages of the region. Many of these word lists have never been published. There are also lectures and articles and some diaries and notebooks.

Although much of Luce's earlier correspondence was lost, the collection contains over 1,500 letters received by him, as well as drafts of his own letters to friends and colleagues. The correspondents include well known historians and South East Asian scholars such as D.G.E. Hall, Oliver W. Wolters, G.E. Harvey, A.B. Griswold, Charles Otto Blagden and some Burmese writers and academics. Family letters include letters from his wife Daw Tee Tee, who did valuable social welfare work in Burma setting up and running a Home for Waifs and Strays. There are also letters to and from Luce's sister Dr Ethel Luce-Clausen and Luce's children, John Luce and Sandra Harding.

Some material on Luce, his life and writings are also in the collection, like the special issue of New Burma Weekly, v.4. no.4 (24 Jan. 1959) in honour of his 70th birthday, reviews of his book Old Burma - Early Pagan and bibliographies of his work, such as DrThan Tun's 'Luce's Contribution to Burmese History'. There are also a few pamphlets and articles on Mrs Luce (Daw Tee Tee) and her work.

Luce collected many articles on South East Asia by scholars, mainly on history, culture and languages, and offprints and photocopies are in the collection. Finally, there are papers he gave or heard at conferences and some newspaper cuttings on Burmese history and archaeology.

Apart from history, Luce had wide interests ranging from classical music, poetry, classical and English literature and the translation of the Bible into Asian languages. These interests are reflected in some of the material in the Luce Papers.

Unfortunately, Luce lost his earlier collection of research materials during the Second World War: readings of old lithic inscriptions and card indexes to Chinese, Mon, Burmese and Pyu languages, as well as his earlier letters, diaries and notes. The present collection therefore does not have much material from the period 1912 to 1941.

Luce was a member of the Bloomsbury group of scholars and writers: friends from Cambridge and London included Rupert Brooke, E.M. Forster, John Maynard Keynes, Arthur Waley and others. Only some letters of E.M. Forster and Arthur and Hubert Waley survive in the collection.

U Thaw Kaung, formerly Chief Librarian, Universities Central Library, Rangoon, was awarded a 1999 Harold White Fellowship at the National Library. He arranged and listed the papers and manuscripts of G.H. Luce and was the compiler of this finding-aid.

Biographical Note:

Gordon Hannington Luce was born in Gloucester, England, on 20 January 1889. He was educated at Dean Close's School, Cheltenham, and Cambridge University, where he read Classics and English Literature. In 1912 he was appointed Lecturer in English Literature at Rangoon College in Burma, which became the main University College when the University of Rangoon was established in December 1920. He soon developed a strong interest in Burmese culture and history and from 1916 onwards published numerous articles on Burmese history, language, art and antiquities. His writings mostly appeared in the Journal of the Burma Research Society, published by the premier research society on Burmese Studies established in 1911. He became a close friend of U Pe Maung Tin, a prominent Burmese and Pali scholar, and later the Professor of Oriental Studies, Principal of University College and Chairman of the Burma Historical Commission. Luce was a founder member of this Historical Commission. He married U Pe Maung Tin's sister, Daw Tee Tee, in 1915.

In 1921 Luce was appointed a Lecturer in Burmese and Far Eastern History at the newly-established University of Rangoon. Daw Tee Tee set up the Home for Waifs and Strays in Rangoon in 1928. The Luces escaped from Burma in 1942 by trekking overland to India, recording languages en route. Luce retired from the Indian Education Service in 1944 and returned to Rangoon after the War. Luce was Visiting Professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London from 1951-53 and was given a personal Chair at the University of Rangoon in 1953. In 1957 the University of Rangoon awarded him an Honorary D. Litt. for his life-long contributions to the study of Burmese history.

Luce was forced to leave Burma in 1964 and he and his wife settled on his sister's farm in Jersey in the Channel Islands. He continued to write on Burmese history and language and art and architecture. His great work Old Burma - Early Pagan was published in 1969-70. He was awarded the CBE in 1952 and the Gold Medal of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1966. He was invited to Paris in 1967 and 1968 to deliver a series of lectures on Old Burma. To the end of his life he maintained correspondence with scholars all over the world and was visited by old and new colleagues. He died on 2 May 1979.

Luce, together with his collegues and friends D.G.E. Hall, G.E. Harvey and a few others brought modern methods of Western historiography and epigraphy to the writing of Burmese history and exerted a big influence on later historians of Burma. But he was often criticised and attacked by the “old school” of Burmese historians who accepted the Burmese chronicles, even though they were legendary in many parts.

See also 'Burma and Beyond', by Andrew Gosling, National Library of Australia news, October 1996: 3-5.

Indexed terms

Names:

G. H. Luce

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn662497).

Conditions Governing Use:

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Gordon Hannington Luce, National Library of Australia, MS 6574, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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