Diary of Joseph F.C. Rock

• Reference:GB 235 JFR/1/1/24
• Dates of Creation:1938-1940
• Name of Creator:
  Rock, Joseph Francis Charles
• Language of Material:Chinese English
• Physical Description:
  1 diary

• Scope and Content

  Diary of Joseph F.C. Rock; May 1938 to February 1940; including:
  - List of trunks in Hong Kong (p.2);
  - Index to Ceremonies – The Nv ceremonies or funerals, followed by volume and page references, but unclear as to what they refer to – it does not appear to be the diaries. (p.3)
  - Books sent to Kelly and Walsh to be rebound (p.4)
  - University of Hawaii books(?) (p.5)
  - ‘Sent to Ye Olde Printerie’ (p.6)
  - Addresses (p.7)
  - ‘Left in Yunnan’; addresses (p.8)
  - Trunks left in Yunnanfu (p.9-12)
  - Diary – May 20 1938 (Hanoi) – May 24 1938 (pp.13-36)
  - pp.37-100 are blank, (small pressed flower between pp.58-59)
  - 5 August 1938 – 28 February 1940 (pp.101-168) includes 3 pressed leaf specimens sellotaped into the diary (p.160, p.163)
  - Diary is blank between pp. 169-297 save for some more pressed plants: p189 (v. fragile); p.239 ‘Rapperswil; p.255 Davos Pass 26th June with Robert; p.263 Davos Pass with Robert, June 26, [19]38; p.271, St Bernhard; p.285 Davos Pass
  - pp.298-299, Chinese text; ‘wants yellow eye glasses, also a watch’ Wrote Mr (?) Meyer that before leaving Honolulu will wire “Leaving” Rock. He will then wire Miss Leburten(?) this message.

• Administrative / Biographical History

  Born Vienna, Austria 1884; died Hawaii 1962
  Relatively uneducated, penniless and often in poor health Joseph Rock left Vienna as a young man in 1902, travelling through Europe and on to the United States. Moving to Hawaii where he was appointed by the Division of Forestry as its first botanical collector, he became a naturalised American in 1913. Although self taught as a botanist, Rock was appointed lecturer at the College in Hawaii, established its first herbarium, and served as its first curator from 1911 until 1920. In 1920 he was appointed by the US Department of Agriculture to find a tree in south east Asia the oil from which was supposed to be useful in treating leprosy. This was the start of his new life as an explorer and in 1922 he arrived in Lijiang, Yunnan which was to become his ‘home’ province though he also travelled widely in Szechuan, Gansu and also Tibet. He was to spend the next 27 years living among the people of the Western Provinces of China collecting plants for western museums and exploring and mapping mountains on the Tibetan border. Working for organisations such as Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum, the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Natural History Museum and the National Geographic Society, he photographed and wrote about the indigenous plants, people and geography of the remote region. He entered the lamaseries of Tibet and became deeply involved in the social and political conditions that affected Western China, witnessing much brutality during various rebellions. He was forced to leave communist China in 1949, but continued travelling around the world, eventually returning to Hawaii where he died in 1962. Rock bequeathed his extensive photographic collection to the archives of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, alongside his diaries documenting his travels.
  Source: ‘In China’s Border Provinces; The Turbulent Career of Joseph Rock’ S.B. Sutton. ‘Joseph Rock and His Shangri-La’ Jim Goodman. Archives
  D.W.

• Access Information

  Collection is open to researchers by appointment, see (right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/visiting-the-library/

• Note

  Born Vienna, Austria 1884; died Hawaii 1962
  Relatively uneducated, penniless and often in poor health Joseph Rock left Vienna as a young man in 1902, travelling through Europe and on to the United States. Moving to Hawaii where he was appointed by the Division of Forestry as its first botanical collector, he became a naturalised American in 1913. Although self taught as a botanist, Rock was appointed lecturer at the College in Hawaii, established its first herbarium, and served as its first curator from 1911 until 1920. In 1920 he was appointed by the US Department of Agriculture to find a tree in south east Asia the oil from which was supposed to be useful in treating leprosy. This was the start of his new life as an explorer and in 1922 he arrived in Lijiang, Yunnan which was to become his ‘home’ province though he also travelled widely in Szechuan, Gansu and also Tibet. He was to spend the next 27 years living among the people of the Western Provinces of China collecting plants for western museums and exploring and mapping mountains on the Tibetan border. Working for organisations such as Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum, the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Natural History Museum and the National Geographic Society, he photographed and wrote about the indigenous plants, people and geography of the remote region. He entered the lamaseries of Tibet and became deeply involved in the social and political conditions that affected Western China, witnessing much brutality during various rebellions. He was forced to leave communist China in 1949, but continued travelling around the world, eventually returning to Hawaii where he died in 1962. Rock bequeathed his extensive photographic collection to the archives of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, alongside his diaries documenting his travels.
  Source: ‘In China’s Border Provinces; The Turbulent Career of Joseph Rock’ S.B. Sutton. ‘Joseph Rock and His Shangri-La’ Jim Goodman. Archives
  D.W.

  A scan of a photocopy of the diary is available for personal research via the link below:
  (right click, open link in new tab) https://rbge.resourcespace.com/?r=4054&k=397f96b0a6
  For permission to use the material, please contact the RBGE Library.

• Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements

  Diary contains inserts, all of which are pressed flowers in fragile condition on certain pages with annotations, therefore extreme caution should be used when consulting this diary.
  Diary should be supported when in use.

• Archivist's Note

  Description revised by L. Paterson in July 2024.

  This diary had previously been catalogued as JFR/1/1/21 and as ‘Volume 21’ but it is unclear as to why, as Rock has not annotated it as such. During re-cataloguing in July 2024, the last six diaries were reordered so that the sequence is now as chronological as possible. At this point, ‘Volume 21’ has been removed from the title, and the catalogue reference changed to JFR/1/1/24.

  This diary may contain, either in its content or catalogue description, terminology, language and attitudes which are today considered inappropriate, outdated, offensive or distressing.

• Conditions Governing Use

  Permission required from RBGE.

• Additional Information

  published

• Genre/Form

  Diaries