Nachlass of Wilhelm Siegling

Introduction

Wilhelm Siegling (1880-1946) can be considered one of the founders of the field of Tocharian studies and, in collaboration with Emil Sieg, is responsible for the original decipherment of Tocharian. He co-authored several of the most important works within the field, including text editions of a large portion of the Berlin collection (Sieg and Siegling 1921 and, posthumously, Sieg and Siegling 1949 and Sieg and Siegling 1953), as well as the monumental grammar of Tocharian A (Sieg et al. 1931). His Nachlass, stored at the University of Göttingen, contains letters, postcards, drafts, and notes Siegling accumulated over the course of his career. Much of the material reflects his collaboration with Emil Sieg on Tocharian text editions and grammar. However, the historical value of these documents extends beyond the field of Tocharian studies as they provide a unique glimpse into the lives of scholars who lived through both world wars.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Oberlies and Pratik Rumde from the Seminar für Indologie und Tibetologie of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen have kindly provided us with high-resolution scans of all the documents, which can now be accessed through the CEToM website (see the full list of documents in chronological order). The CEToM project is currently in the process of supplying each document with an annotated transcription. These annotations include tags pertaining to relevant entities such as word forms, manuscript sigla, and names, and can be accessed through an index.

Notes on transcriptions

For an overview of the symbols used within the transcriptions please refer to the CEToM symbol guide. Siegling frequently made annotations on the letters and postcards he received, which we have tried to render as accurately as possible within our transcriptions. There is, however, one notable exception: Siegling was in the habit of crossing out Emil Sieg's suggestions and corrections pertaining to their collaborative work on Tocharian texts and grammar, presumably in order to indicate that he had finished processing the material. This kind of annotation is visually distinct from text that he crossed out in order to indicate a mistake. While the latter is reflected in our transcriptions, the former is not.

Transcription

List of documents

1. : Siegling Letter 39 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
2. : Siegling Draft 4 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
3. : Siegling Draft 5 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
4. 1903: Siegling Draft 2 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
5. 1903: Siegling Draft 3 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
6. 1904: Siegling Draft 1 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
7. 1908: Siegling Draft 6 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
8. 1909: Siegling Draft 7 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
9. 1911-06-16: Siegling Letter 1 (by Emil Sieg)

   Sieg complains about the low quality some of the print samples for their text edition. He sums up his most recent findings on the Tocharian A lexicon and tasks Siegling with investigating certain aspects of the verbal system. Sieg further discusses plans to join Siegling in Berlin in order to spend their leftover budget on a social gathering.

10. 1911-10-21: Siegling Letter 3 (by Verlagsbuchhandlung Georg Reimer in Berlin)

    The publishing company Georg Reimer informs Siegling that they cannot comply with his request to switch the printing process of Sieg and Siegling's text edition to a higher quality paper. The publisher argues that the request is not financially feasible as the paper originally earmarked for the project would go to waste.

11. 1911-10-30: Siegling Letter 2 (by Emil Sieg)

    Sieg expresses his displeasure at Georg Reimer's refusal to print their upcoming text edition on higher quality paper and suggests steps to reverse the publishers decision. He further discusses recent discoveries regarding the Tocharian lexicon based on a Sanskrit-Tocharian B bilingual text from the Paris collection he received from Antoine Meillet.

12. 1912-02-01: Siegling Letter 4 (by Emil Sieg)

    Sieg expresses his delight at Siegling's recent wedding but simultaneously laments his colleague's resulting neglect of his work on Tocharian. He summarizes his recent findings regarding case, gender, and deixis of the Tocharian A demonstrative pronouns. He expresses his worries that, due to time constraints and the extent of the Tocharian A corpus, their coverage of the grammar within Sieg and Siegling's text edition will have to be limited, opening them up to criticism from future scholars able to spend more time on individual forms.

13. 1912-05-01: Siegling Postcard 1 (by Emil Sieg)

    Sieg has come across a Sanskrit text fragment from Turfan, which, based on its chapter title, appears to belong to the Saundaranandakāvya. He tasks Siegling with comparing the content of the fragment with the recently published edition of the text. He further discusses a newly published Vinaya fragment from the Paris collection.

14. 1913: Siegling Draft 9 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
15. 1913-01-01: Siegling Postcard 68 (by Emil Sieg)
16. 1914: Siegling Note 1 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
17. 1914: Siegling Note 2 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
18. 1914: Siegling Note 3 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
19. 1914: Siegling Note 4 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
20. 1914: Siegling Note 5 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
21. 1914: Siegling Note 6 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
22. 1914: Siegling Note 7 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
23. 1914: Siegling Note 8 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
24. 1914: Siegling Note 9 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
25. 1914: Siegling Note 10 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
26. 1914: Siegling Note 11 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
27. 1914: Siegling Note 12 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
28. 1914: Siegling Note 13 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
29. 1914: Siegling Note 14 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
30. 1914: Siegling Note 15 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
31. 1914-05-07: Siegling Postcard 14 (by Emil Sieg)
32. 1914-05-22: Siegling Postcard 15 (by Emil Sieg)
33. 1914-06-04: Siegling Postcard 13 (by Emil Sieg)
34. 1914-06-05: Siegling Postcard 4 (by Emil Sieg)

    Sieg discusses the words pälkäṣ, säṃ, sāt, and k_uraś and a number of passages in which they are attested.

35. 1914-06-12: Siegling Postcard 2 (by Emil Sieg)

    Sieg discusses a number of text emendations and readings for their upcoming edition of the Tocharian A text corpus.

36. 1914-06-24: Siegling Postcard 7 (by Emil Sieg)
37. 1914-06-30: Siegling Postcard 6 (by Emil Sieg)

    The postcard contains various remarks on Tocharian A text passages, as well as Sieg's discovery that reduplication can function as a marker of causativity. Sieg further reports that he is rejecting a request from the University of Kiel to serve as dean before the predetermined date of his appointment (1914-06-24). Finally, he complains that has has not yet been invited to contribute to the festschrift for Ernst Windisch (the published volume contains no contribution of Sieg's).

38. 1914-07-12: Siegling Postcard 5 (by Emil Sieg)

    Sieg suggests readings and emendation for a number of Tocharian A text passages. He describes his various duties as newly appointment dean at the University of Kiel and how they leave him little time for his work on Tocharian. He plans to meet with Siegling in Berlin during the semester break in order to collaborate in their text edition in person.

39. 1914-07-21: Siegling Postcard 11 (by Emil Sieg)
40. 1914-07-25: Siegling Postcard 10 (by Emil Sieg)
41. 1914-07-31: Siegling Postcard 9 (by Emil Sieg)
42. 1914-08-18: Siegling Postcard 12 (by Emil Sieg)
43. 1914-09-02: Siegling Postcard 8 (by Emil Sieg)

    After a short paragraph on two Tocharian A text passages, Sieg expresses grave concern about an issue raised by Siegling in a recent postcard, which is threatening to impede their progress on the Tocharian A text edition. In response, Sieg proposes to travel to Berlin in order spend three weeks with Siegling collaborating on the project in person (after spending the first 8 days hunting fowl). Finally, he expresses his optimism about the progression of the war and mentions his recent to Richard Fick, who is currently serving in the military.

44. 1914-10-30: Siegling Postcard 3 (by Emil Sieg)

    Sieg remarks on the story of Upaka (A 217 and A 218) and suggests a correction to the introduction of the relevant passage in their edition. He talks about his current activities at the university and mentions mutual acquaintances affected by the ongoing war.

45. 1915: Siegling Note 16 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
46. 1915: Siegling Note 17 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
47. 1915: Siegling Note 18 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
48. 1915: Siegling Note 19 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
49. 1915-01-22: Siegling Postcard 17 (by Emil Sieg)
50. 1915-01-31: Siegling Postcard 16 (by Emil Sieg)
51. 1915-02-14: Siegling Postcard 18 (by Emil Sieg)
52. 1915-03-03: Siegling Postcard 19 (by Emil Sieg)
53. 1919: Siegling Note 20 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
54. 1919-02-16: Siegling Letter 6 (by Emil Sieg)

    Sieg addresses that fact that Siegling has only just returned from his military service and expresses his regrets that he won't be able to visit him in Berlin to help him reacclimatize. He then discusses some manuscript fragments of the Maitreyasamiti-Nātaka that he was able to join and tasks Siegling with finding additional matching fragments.

55. 1919-05-18: Siegling Letter 5 (by Emil Sieg)

    Sieg discusses various obstacles preventing him from joining Siegling in Berlin in order to finish their manuscript, including budgetary restrictions, Sieg's workload in Kiel, as well as the political climate in Berlin conditioned by the war. He briefly mentions his research on the Tocharian A numerals without providing any particulars. Finally he comments on the current activities of various colleagues, including F. W. K. Müller's and Albert von Le Coq's work on Old Turkic.

56. 1919-05-19: Siegling Postcard 20 (by Emil Sieg)
57. 1919-06-19: Siegling Postcard 21 (by Emil Sieg)
58. 1919-11-14: Siegling Postcard 22 (by Emil Sieg)
59. 1919-12-14: Siegling Postcard 23 (by Emil Sieg)
60. 1920: Siegling Note 21 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
61. 1920-01-08: Siegling Postcard 34 (by Emil Sieg)
62. 1920-01-26: Siegling Postcard 33 (by Emil Sieg)
63. 1920-02-06: Siegling Postcard 31 (by Emil Sieg)
64. 1920-02-21: Siegling Postcard 32 (by Emil Sieg)
65. 1920-04-10: Siegling Postcard 29 (by Emil Sieg)
66. 1920-04-13: Siegling Postcard 27 (by Emil Sieg)
67. 1920-04-18: Siegling Postcard 30 (by Emil Sieg)
68. 1920-04-27: Siegling Letter 7 (by Emil Sieg)

    The letter primarily consists of a draft by Sieg of the introduction to their upcoming text edition. Sieg further addresses the contentious relationship between the Yuezhi, the Indo-Scythians, and the Tocharians. At the end of the letter (in the margin) Sieg references an “intriguing” suggestion by Siegling, which, unfortunately, cannot be recovered without Siegling's side of the correspondence.

69. 1920-05-03: Siegling Postcard 24 (by Emil Sieg)
70. 1920-05-11: Siegling Postcard 26 (by Emil Sieg)
71. 1920-06-28: Siegling Postcard 25 (by Emil Sieg)
72. 1920-12-13: Siegling Postcard 28 (by Emil Sieg)
73. 1921-12-29: Siegling Postcard 35 (by Emil Sieg)
74. 1922: Siegling Note 22 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
75. 1922-04-27: Siegling Postcard 38 (by Emil Sieg)
76. 1922-05-08: Siegling Postcard 36 (by Emil Sieg)
77. 1922-05-21: Siegling Postcard 37 (by Emil Sieg)
78. 1923: Siegling Note 23 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
79. 1923-02-24: Siegling Postcard 40 (by Emil Sieg)
80. 1923-03-26: Siegling Postcard 39 (by Emil Sieg)
81. 1923-04-13: Siegling Postcard 41 (by Emil Sieg)
82. 1923-05-23: Siegling Letter 8 (by Emil Sieg)

    Sieg inquires about Siegling's progress on his collaborative work with Wilhelm Schulze on their Tocharian A grammar. He further provides an update on his own research involving the Tocharian A function words śla “with”, sne ”without” and the negation mā.

83. 1923-07-08: Siegling Letter 9 (by Emil Sieg)

    Sieg talks about his plans to meet with Siegling and Schulze in Berlin in order to work on their text edition. Most of the remainder of the letter consists of a detailed discussion of the Tocharian A verbal root läm, including an exhaustive list of attestations.

84. 1924: Siegling Postcard 46 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
85. 1924: Siegling Note 24 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
86. 1924-03-07: Siegling Letter 13 (by Emil Sieg)
87. 1924-03-09: Siegling Postcard 45 (by Emil Sieg)
88. 1924-03-20: Siegling Letter 10 (by Emil Sieg)

    Sieg is unsatisfied with Siegling and Schulze's progress on the Tocharian A grammar and expresses his worries that other (particularly French) scholars may beat them to it. He proposes to come to Berlin in order to collaborate on the project in person but is having difficulties securing funds for the journey. He therefore suggests to procure a free copy of their text edition from the publisher and sell it to the library of the University of Kiel. The remaining letter contains a discussion of Tocharian B personal endings, as well as the paradigms of the two roots käm- “come” and länt- “leave”.

89. 1924-05-06: Siegling Postcard 44 (by Emil Sieg)
90. 1924-05-25: Siegling Postcard 42 (by Emil Sieg)
91. 1924-06-14: Siegling Postcard 43 (by Emil Sieg)
92. 1924-07-06: Siegling Postcard 85 (by Hans Mathias Detlef Jensen)
93. 1924-07-10: Siegling Letter 12 (by Emil Sieg)
94. 1924-11-28: Siegling Letter 11 (by Emil Sieg)

    Sieg has just returned from working with Siegling and Schulze in Berlin. The remaining letter contains a detailed inventory of all the fragments belonging to the manuscript containing the Araṇemi-Jātaka in Tocharian B (B 71–B 106 in later edition).

95. 1924-12-20: Siegling Letter 14 (by Emil Sieg)
96. 1925: Siegling Note 25 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
97. 1925-01-09: Siegling Postcard 47 (by Emil Sieg)
98. 1925-04-20: Siegling Postcard 49 (by Emil Sieg)
99. 1925-05-05: Siegling Letter 16 (by Emil Sieg)
100. 1925-05-07: Siegling Postcard 48 (by Emil Sieg)
101. 1925-06-17: Siegling Postcard 50 (by Emil Sieg)
102. 1925-07-17: Siegling Letter 15 (by Emil Sieg)
103. 1926-10-18: Siegling Postcard 51 (by Emil Sieg)
104. 1926-11-26: Siegling Postcard 53 (by Emil Sieg)
105. 1926-11-29: Siegling Postcard 52 (by Emil Sieg)
106. 1926-12-10: Siegling Letter 17 (by Emil Sieg)
107. 1926-12-30: Siegling Letter 18 (by Emil Sieg)
108. 1927: Siegling Note 26 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
109. 1927-01-31: Siegling Letter 19 (by Emil Sieg)
110. 1927-02-14: Siegling Postcard 54 (by Emil Sieg)
111. 1927-03-28: Siegling Letter 20 (by Emil Sieg)
112. 1927-05-26: Siegling Postcard 57 (by Emil Sieg)
113. 1927-06-13: Siegling Postcard 56 (by Emil Sieg)
114. 1927-07-08: Siegling Letter 21 (by Emil Sieg)
115. 1927-07-21: Siegling Postcard 55 (by Emil Sieg)
116. 1930-09-20: Siegling Postcard 58 (by Emil Sieg)
117. 1932-09-01: Siegling Postcard 59 (by Emil Sieg)
118. 1933-08-20: Siegling Postcard 60 (by Emil Sieg)
119. 1934-08-30: Siegling Letter 22 (by Emil Sieg)
120. 1936-08-22: Siegling Letter 23 (by Emil Sieg)
121. 1938-01-19: Siegling Letter 27 (by Emil Sieg)
122. 1938-08-22: Siegling Postcard 61 (by Emil Sieg)
123. 1939-08-19: Siegling Postcard 62 (by Emil Sieg)
124. 1939-08-26: Siegling Postcard 63 (by Emil Sieg)
125. 1939-10-07: Siegling Letter 26 (by Emil Sieg)
126. 1939-11-21: Siegling Postcard 69 (by Emil Sieg)
127. 1939-11-23: Siegling Postcard 70 (by Emil Sieg)
128. 1940-03-17: Siegling Postcard 71 (by Emil Sieg)
129. 1940-06-03: Siegling Postcard 73 (by Emil Sieg)
130. 1940-07-20: Siegling Postcard 72 (by Emil Sieg)
131. 1940-08-16: Siegling Postcard 65 (by Emil Sieg)
132. 1940-09-21: Siegling Postcard 74 (by Emil Sieg)
133. 1940-12-30: Siegling Postcard 64 (by Emil Sieg)
134. 1941-08-18: Siegling Postcard 66 (by Emil Sieg)
135. 1943: Siegling Letter 43 (by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht)
136. 1943-01-29: Siegling Postcard 79 (by Ernst Waldschmidt)
137. 1943-04-30: Siegling Letter 25 (by Else Lüders)
138. 1943-07-03: Siegling Letter 31 (by Emil Sieg)
139. 1943-07-09: Siegling Letter 40 (by Helmuth Scheel)
140. 1943-09-09: Siegling Postcard 76 (by Emil Sieg)
141. 1943-09-18: Siegling Letter 29 (by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht)
142. 1943-09-28: Siegling Letter 30 (by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht)
143. 1943-09-29: Siegling Postcard 75 (by Emil Sieg)
144. 1943-10-07: Siegling Postcard 67 (by Else Lüders)
145. 1943-10-26: Siegling Letter 28 (by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht)
146. 1943-11-30: Siegling Letter 33 (by Emil Sieg)
147. 1944: Siegling Letter 46 (by Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften)
148. 1944: Siegling Draft 10 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
149. 1944: Siegling Draft 11 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
150. 1944: Siegling Draft 12 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
151. 1944: Siegling Draft 13 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
152. 1944: Siegling Draft 14 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
153. 1944: Siegling Draft 15 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
154. 1944: Siegling Draft 16 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
155. 1944: Siegling Draft 17 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
156. 1944: Siegling Note 27 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
157. 1944-01-05: Siegling Letter 45 (by Helmuth Scheel)
158. 1944-01-06: Siegling Postcard 77 (by Emil Sieg)
159. 1944-01-10: Siegling Letter 44 (by Hermann Grapow)
160. 1944-01-13: Siegling Letter 47 (by Hermann Grapow)
161. 1944-01-15: Siegling Letter 32 (by Emil Sieg)
162. 1944-01-31: Siegling Postcard 78 (by Emil Sieg)
163. 1944-02-05: Siegling Letter 24 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
164. 1944-02-07: Siegling Letter 35 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
165. 1944-02-18: Siegling Letter 34 (by Emil Sieg)
166. 1944-02-24: Siegling Postcard 82 (by Emil Sieg)
167. 1944-03-30: Siegling Postcard 80 (by Emil Sieg)
168. 1944-07-09: Siegling Postcard 84 (by Emil Sieg)
169. 1944-08-14: Siegling Postcard 83 (by Emil Sieg)
170. 1944-09-24: Siegling Postcard 81 (by Emil Sieg)
171. 1945: Siegling Draft 8 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
172. 1945: Siegling Note 28 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
173. 1945: Siegling Note 29 (by Wilhelm Siegling)
174. 1945-02-22: Siegling Letter 37 (by Emil Sieg)
175. 1945-03-21: Siegling Letter 42 (by Rose Leonore Waldschmidt)
176. 1945-11-20: Siegling Letter 36 (by Emil Sieg)
177. 1945-11-30: Siegling Letter 41 (by Ernst Waldschmidt)
178. 1946-04-18: Siegling Letter 38 (by Emil Sieg)

     Sieg is writing a second letter to Siegling's wife shortly after her husband's death, expressing his concerns for her after receiving no answer to his first letter. He inquires about the cause of Siegling's sudden passing, as well as his nachlass, which crucially includes his near-finished manuscript of their edition of the Udānālaṅkāra fragments. He further lays out his plans to transfer the Tocharian material from Berlin to Göttingen, where will continue to work on the text editions with his students Ernst Waldschmidt and Wolfgang Krause.

Index