NMTH receives donation of works on Taiwan

2014-12-11

National Museum of Taiwan History in Tainan City recently received a donation of nearly 600 foreign language publications on Taiwan from a retired U.S. scholar.

The pieces from Harold M. Otness’s private collection include academic journals, books, government reports, historical documents and pieces of literature. Dating from 1704 to 2003, these publications were scoured from 12 countries by the emeritus professor of library science at Southern Oregon University.

“We are thankful for Mr. Otness’s generous gesture,” NMTH Director Lu Li-cheng said at the Dec. 9 donation ceremony in the southern Taiwan city. “The variety of topics represented in his collection is phenomenal and bears testament to international research on the island’s history.”

In response, Otness said he believes the museum is the perfect place to take over his collection. He was pleased with its excellent facilities and decided to make the donation after visiting the site last year.

As a Taiwan son-in-law, the professor began collecting books about the country due to personal interest in 1980. The oldest one is a fictitious book titled “An Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa, An Island Subject to the Emperor of Japan” by George Psalmanazar in 1704.

Otness said the well-known monograph piqued his curiosity as he skimmed through a second-hand book catalog. The book—originally touted as a detailed description of Taiwan’s customs, geography and political economy—was completely fabricated by the author.

Another special item of the collection is the 1968 Ph. D. dissertation of former ROC President Lee Teng-hui, who graduated from Cornell University in the U.S., according to the professor. Titled “Intersectional Capital Flows in the Economic Development of Taiwan, 1895-1960,” the work is of remarkable historic significance in light of Lee’s presidency and policies, he said.

In addition to acquiring books, the academic’s passion for Taiwan drove him to write “One Thousand Westerners in Taiwan, to 1945; A Biographical and Bibliographical Dictionary” published in 1999. The book offers a systematic glimpse of the country before 1945 by detailing the lives and publications of 1,000 Westerners on the island.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=225059&CtNode=413)