The Peter David Koret Collection of Tai Narrative Manuscripts at the University of California, Berkeley: Introduction and Index

This article introduces and contextualizes an extraordinary archive compiled by the late pioneer of Lao literary aesthetics, Peter David Koret (1959–2020). This 98-box, 233-fascicle collection, now housed at the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, is one of the most extensive gatherings of Tai-language narrative texts in North America. Written on palm leaf and bark paper in various Tai languages, the collection’s 137 manuscripts illuminate Koret’s career-long exploration of the poetic beauty and pan–Southeast Asian circulation of traditional verse novels. To facilitate further research into Lao, Khuen, and other understudied Tai literary cultures, a full catalog with citations and paratextual details―cross-referenced to the summary index in this article―is presented in a separate online appendix.