Louis Ledoux: Papua New Guinea Collection

Tuesday, November 16, 2021 at 5:00 PM UTC

Letter-Document from Ledoux to Bernard Mishkin

Start price: $250

Estimated price: $500 - $1,000

Buyer's premium: 28%

Sales Tax: On buyer's premium only

Original handwritten and carbon copy typed letter/document from Louis Pierre Ledoux to "Michigan" [ anthropologist Bernard Mischkin ] giving detailed advice on how to do fieldwork in New Guinea.

Dated June 1936, the letter/document gives detailed advice and insight on how to prepare for fieldwork in New Guinea including references to what Margaret Mead would recommend (not necessarily same as Louis Pierre Ledoux’s recommendation) with regards to topics such as: clothing, tobacco, liquor, pricing at local trading posts, first-aid and medicines, local food, guns, stationary, furniture, photographic equipment, hiring local staff, how and where to build a house in the field, gifting, relations with other foreigners in the region, etc.

Date: 1930’s
Provenance: Louis Pierre Ledoux Collection