Working papers created by Nebesky-Wojkowitz

Papers created by Rene de Nebesky-Wojkowitz, including those used in the posthumous publication of his text Tibetan Religious Dances: Tibetan text and annotated translation of the 'chams yig, which was edited by Fürer-Haimendorf. The files contain manuscript and typescript notes, relating to a variety of topics including Tibetan dance, religion and ritual in addition to a collection of notes on medicine and medicinal plants.

Nebesky-Wojkowitz was born in Austria on 29 June 1923. He was a private lecturer in Ethnology, specialising in Tibetology, and a curator at the Museum of Ethnology, Vienna, supervising the Ethnology Department. In 1953, he worked at the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, in Leiden, Holland. He undertook explorations in Kalimpong, Sikkim and Nepal. In particular he carried out important ethnological research on Tibetan sacred dances, Tibetan iconography and ritual. During his lifetime he published two well-known books, Oracles and Demons of Tibet: the cult and iconography of the Tibetan protective deities, and Where the Gods are Mountains: three years among the people of the Himalayas (1956). He died suddenly on 9 July 1959, aged 36. After his death, Fürer-Haimendorf was asked to prepare Nebesky's unpublished manuscript for publication, and the book was published as Tibetan Religious Dances. This explains the presence of a number of Nebesky's files in Fürer-Haimendorf's archive.

The arrangement of the notes in files has been retained as found, and file titles and numbers used by Nebesky retained where present.

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