Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Schaertlin, Alberto Muller
- Abstract:
- Typescript of an unpublished account of a international swindle, The Yellow Count, with extensive appendices of material relating to the fictional events.
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Language:
- Materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Alberto Muller Schaertlin The yellow count (Collection 170/454). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The typescript is the fictional account (with supporting documentation) for the story of Igor de Tilinsky, a Russian who had served in the army during the Russo-Japanese War. Tilinsky claimed to possess a contract drawn up by the Japanese during the war promising 138 million yen in exchange for Russian military secrets. However, the contract stipulated that the sum was to be paid on March 22, 1915; in the years leading up to 1915, Tilinsky and two associates traveled from Odessa to Zurich to London, attempting to make lavish purchases in exchange for future payments from this windfall. Approximately one quarter of the manuscript is devoted to appendices with background material gathered by Schaertlin, apparently during a two-year stay in Europe. The appendices include material on the historical background of Japanese imperialism, typed transcriptions of newspaper articles and legal documents, and photostats of documents from the British Museum. The articles emphasize that the Japanese contract was a hoax, though it is clear that the story also had its believers, especially among those who doubted that the Japanese could have defeated the Russians at Port Arthur without inside information.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Little is known about Alberto Muller Schaertlin, other than that he seems to have been a man with unfulfilled literary aspirations. Notes inside the front cover indicate he lived in New York City during the 1930s before moving to Los Angeles in the second half of the decade. The second page of material tipped in between the front endpapers claims that the author spent two years in Europe doing research after the manuscript was completed. He registered The Yellow Count with the Author's League of America in 1934, and the Screen Writers Guild in 1940. He may have been of Swiss origin or heritage (Schaertlin enclosed a copy of a letter by Max Graf, the chancellor of the Consulate of Switzerland in Los Angeles, in which the chancellor praises the manuscript, suggesting that it will be popular as a novel and a film in both the United States and Europe.) The materials in the appendix also suggest that Schaertlin was very interested in Japanese imperialism.
- Acquisition information:
- Purchased from J. G. Stanoff, Booksellers, 1970.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Jonathan Naito with assistance from Jain Fletcher and Laurel McPhee, September 2004, in the Center For Primary Research and Training (CFPRT).
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
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- Physical location:
- Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Physical description:
- 335 leaves : paper, ill. ; 274 x 215 mm. bound to 281 x 227 mm. Layout: Text averages 26 lines per page, with 1-inch top and bottom margins; .5 inch edge margins, and a 1.5 inch gutter. Script: Typescript Binding: Burgundy
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Manuscripts.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Alberto Muller Schaertlin The yellow count (Collection 170/454). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
- Location of this collection:
-
A1713 Charles E. Young Research LibraryBox 951575Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
- Contact:
- (310) 825-4988