Creator: Burkitt, Robert James, 1869-1945 - Philadelphia Area Archives Search Results

Start Over Creator Burkitt, Robert James, 1869-1945

Extent:: 1.4 linear feet
Abstract:: Robert Burkitt lived and worked in Guatemala for most of his life. A graduate of Harvard University, he first traveled to Central America in 1894 with George Gordon as Gordon's assistant on the Fourth Coban Expedition. Burkitt became enamored with the culture and language of the Maya and never returned to North America. He traveled the countryside, corresponding with Gordon, and collecting items for the Museum under a loosely binding agreement with Gordon and later Horace Jayne. Burkitt's letters and catalogues are rich documents depicting the cultural, linguistic, topological, and historical features of the Guatemala Highlands. Burkitt wrote and worked from the areas of Chama, Chipal, Coban, Senahu, Chiantla, Chocola, and other areas of the Alta Verapaz region. He produced a detailed catalogue of his discoveries accompanied by photgraphs and drawings. Among Burkitt's discoveries is the Ratinixul Vase unearthed in 1923. His work was published in the Museum Journal in 1924 and 1930....(see more)

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

Extent:: 0.3 linear foot
Abstract:: The Elin Danien Collection of Robert Burkitt Papers was discovered by Danien on her trip to Guatemala in 1985. Consisting of notebooks on the languages of the native Indians in the Guatemalan Highlands, the collection was found on the property of a family with whom Robert Burkitt stayed while working for the Penn Museum in Guatemala. Previously thought to be destroyed, the works are from the early portion of Burkitt's time in Central America, 1903 to 1913, before he formally began to collect and catalogue artifacts for the Museum. The collection consists of four linguistic notebooks, a comparative chart of the languages with a word list, a Spanish-Kekchi dictionary created by Burkitt, a portion of Burkitt's Dresden Manuscript, an Index to a linguistic notebook that is not a part of the collection, and loose papers from other notebooks. A purchased Espanol-Quecchi dictionary from Coban, 1890, is also a part of the collection.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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