Skip to main content

Georg Luck papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS-0744

Scope and Contents

This collection includes the professional papers of Luck, primarily typewritten speeches, annotated drafts of his writings, and some correspondence and research notes. The papers span from 1948 to the 2010s.

Dates

  • Creation: 1948, 1954-approximately 2010s

Creator

Language of Materials

Primarily in English, with some papers in German.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is housed off-site and requires 48-hours' notice for retrieval. Please contact Special Collections for more information.

Box 3 is unavailable for use. The rest of the collection is open for use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions. It is not necessary to seek our permission as the owner of the physical work to publish or otherwise use public domain materials that we have made available for use, unless Johns Hopkins University holds the copyright.

Biographical / Historical

Georg Hans Bhawani Luck (1926-2013) was a Swiss classicist known for his studies of magical beliefs and practices in the Classical world. For over twenty years he was a professor at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. In a scholarly debate in the late 1980s concerning methodology in the classics, Luck was a leader on the side of traditional rigorous scholarly methods and against what he viewed as unfounded speculation based on multiculturalism.

Luck was born in Bern, Switzerland, and attended the Kirchenfeld Gymnasium (high school) in Bern. During and after World War II, he served in the Swiss Army, eventually being promoted to lieutenant. After this, he earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Bern, also with studies at the University of Paris. He came to the U.S. for graduate studies, at Harvard University, where he earned a masters degree in classics in 1951. Returning to the University of Bern, he earned a doctorate in 1953.

He taught classics at Yale University in 1952 and at Brown University in 1953 and 1954. Next, he taught at Harvard from 1955 to 1958, and the University of Mainz from 1958 to 1962. He became a full professor at the University of Bonn, and then moved to Johns Hopkins in 1970, where he remained for the rest of his career. For twelve years, he was the editor in chief of the American Journal of Philology. He retired in 1990.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Luck

Extent

2.74 Cubic Feet (2 record center cartons, 1 legal half-size document box)

Abstract

Georg Hans Bhawani Luck (1926-2013) was a Swiss classicist known for his studies of magical beliefs and practices in the Classical world. For over twenty years he was a professor at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. This collection includes the professional papers of Luck, primarily typewritten speeches, annotated drafts of his writings, and some correspondence and research notes. The papers span from 1948 to the 2010s.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Some electronic records, two external hard drives and one flash drive, are included in this collection and have been left unprocessed.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The papers were donated by Harriet Luck in June 2013.

Accruals

Accessions: 2008-09.MS.018, 2012-13.MS.033

Processing Information

This collection, excepting for electronic records, was processed in February 2016 by Annie Tang.

Title
Georg Luck papers
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Repository

Contact:
The Sheridan Libraries
Special Collections
3400 N Charles St
Baltimore MD 21218 USA