Spencer & Gillen

A journey through Aboriginal Australia

Document

Physical Description

10.05.1890 From Roth to B. S. Roth and B. S. won’t agree on totemism. Roth suggests small group should be set up to standardize use of terms etc. Roth has private collection of 600 objects and has collected from many areas. He has arranged them on a Pitt Rivers typological basis, but can’t be seen to as good a vantage as in a museum. Now Roth govt. official all objects will go to his department. Met Haddon and party at Normanton, expedition may find links between New Guinea, Malaya and Cape York. Discussion of anthropometric measurements, marriage systems and taboos. Roth got lots of Mss to hand but can’t publish without permission of his department. He is not anxious to publish until he has worked through all of Cape York.

Primary Comments

Letters from Walter Edmund Roth

Images

Rights: Pitt Rivers Museum

Document Details

Document Details

Letter From
Roth, Walter Edmund
Letter To
Sir, Spencer, Walter Baldwin

Institution

Institution
Pitt Rivers Museum
Registration
PRM1AD_02