Guide to the Papers of Otto Van der Sprenkel, 1892-2000

Summary

Collection number:

MS 3050

Creator:

Otto Van der Sprenkel

Extent:

1.4 metres and (10 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Otto Van der Sprenkel, National Library of Australia, MS 3050, [series/file/item number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference, with the exception of the letters of Eve Buscombe (Series 2/Folder 8). Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The major portion of the collection comprises the draft for Otto van der Sprenkel's unpublished bibliography 'A selective and annotated bibliography of Chinese history, thought and society to 1965 in Western languages (excluding Russian)'. Also included are personal letters, cards and photographs belonging to Van der Sprenkel and his wife Pamela, papers relating to Chinese historiography and sinology conferences, notes by Pamela van der Sprenkel on Sir Joseph Banks, and genealogical papers pertaining to the family of the prominent architect John Kirkpatrick (1856-1923), Pamela's great-uncle.

Biographical Note:

Otto Berkelbach van der Sprenkel was born in Bussum, Holland in 1906, into a distinguished academic family. Raised and educated in England, he studied at the London School of Economics, where he formed part of the 'nursery' of the Fabian Society. He was awarded the prestigious Graham Wallas Prize, and after graduating with a first class honours degree in social economics, continued at the School as a research fellow until 1930.

Between 1931 and 1933 Van der Sprenkel lectured in political science at the University of Toronto, after which time he returned to England where he lectured on behalf of the Workers' Educational Association. This kindled his interest in the Far East, and in 1943 he began to study Chinese whilst lecturing part-time in history at the School of Oriental and African Studies, The University of London. A visiting professorship to Nankai University in Tientsin in 1947 saw him witness the communist victory in 1949, leading to his co-authorship of New China: three views (1950).

Van der Sprenkel joined the former Canberra University College in 1956 as Senior Lecturer. He taught until his retirement in 1971, by then Associate Professor in the Department of Asian Civilization, Australian National University. During this period Van der Sprenkel was closely associated with the National Library of Australia, advising on acquisitions in the area of Asian studies, and donating several rare volumes, including the Chinese historical work Hsützuchiht'ungchienkang mu (1476).

Professor van der Sprenkel died in Canberra on 24 April 1978, survived by his wife Pamela, who died there on 9 July 2001.

Provenance:

The material forming Series 1 of the collection was presented to the Library by Otto van der Sprenkel in 1972. Several additions to the papers, which were donated in separate instalments by Dawn Richardson and Stephan Williams in 2001, are contained in Series 2.

Arrangement:

The original organisation of the papers in both Series 1 and 2 has largely been preserved in their transfer to the Library. The only exception to this arrangement is the volume Chinese History I, which was donated by Stephan Williams as part of papers in Series 2, but which has been extracted to file at the end of the main sequence of the bibliography at Series 1/file 21.

Indexed terms

Names:

Otto Van der Sprenkel

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2788171).

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 Otto Van der Sprenkel, National Library of Australia, MS 3050, [series/file/item number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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