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The Society's collections have always been open for researchers to come and use. This in turn has generated additional information concerning the collections both formally through articles and research papers and informally through correspondence. The Society has also sought to promote its collections through both events and articles. The papers within this series concern these activities. Though much of the administration of these activities does not create items of archival value, the ones kept were deemed to be of use for future researchers.

Correspondence, articles, engagement with and research information about the Manuscript collections:

• Letter concerning the identification of Tamil, Singhalese and other manuscripts and Copper plate inscriptions. The author of the letter had been involved in creating handlists after L.D. Barnett and others had completed much of the identification. The letter explains the process and some of what was discovered but the signature is unreadable. Handwritten, 3 pieces, undated [1950s].
• Correspondence between Charles Bawden, School of Oriental and African Studies, and Miss Jill Davies, Assistant Librarian, Royal Asiatic Society concerning the Tibetan manuscripts donated to the Society by Robert Yuille. The letters give provenance of their arrival at the Society and identification of what they are. Typed, 11 pieces, dated 7 March 1977 - 18 April 1978.
• Context information for the Society's manuscript of the Dictionnaire Tartare-Mantchou François by Father Joseph Amyot. Typed, 2 pieces, undated.
• Context information for some of the Society's Chinese manuscripts. Typed, 2 pieces, dated 28 July 1977.
• 'Bustan as-salatin' - information concerning this document in printed and manuscript forms. These include Raffles Malay 8 and Raffles Malay 42. Typed in Indonesian and English, 2 pieces, undated.
• 'A Qur'an from the East African Coast' by Simon Digby, Honorary Librarian, Royal Asiatic Society - a copy of an article from Art and Archaeology Research papers, June 1975, giving details of a Qur'an (RAS Arabic 12a) presented to the Society by F.F. Arbuthnot c.1900. Photocopy, 8 pieces, dated June 1975.
• 'Paper and Gold: Illuminated Manuscripts from the Indonesian Archipelago - An exhibition in The British Library, 11 July to 27 October 1990' - pamphlet produced in connexion with the exhibition to explain about Malay and Javanese manuscripts. The Society lent some manuscripts for the exhibition. Printed pamphlet, dated 1990.
• Correspondence and articles by Jacqueline Filliozat concerning the Society's Pali manuscripts. The articles are entitled, 'Survey of the Pali manuscript collection in the Royal Asiatic Society, December 1993', 'Survey of the Pali manuscript collection in the Royal Asiatic Society, December 1993- July 1994', `Projet d'exposition ou de présentation des plus beaux mss. en Pali de la RAS', 'Trois nouveaux fragments manuscrits du Dasavatthuppakarana, Trois recensions indochinoises échelonnées sur Trois siècles (1648-1948 A.D.)' and 'Transcriptions des fragments concernant le Dasavatthu d'après les manuscrits FEMC PALI A 20, RAS BURMESE 64, SA. KHMER 16 & 18 avec les concordances à notre précédente édition: J. Ver Eecke, Le Dasavatthuppakarana, PEFEO CVIII, Paris 1976'. Three handwritten letters in French, dated 3 January 1994 - 15 February 1995. Computer printed manuscripts, 98 pieces.
• Correspondence between Dr J.D. Smith, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Cambridge, J. Clifford Wright, School of Oriental and African Studies, Paul Dundas, Department of Sanskrit, University of Edinburgh, and information concerning some of the Society's Sanskrit manuscripts. Typed, 5 pieces, dated 9 December 1996 - 21 March 1997.
• Letter from Toshihito Kimura, Professor of International Buddhist University, Kyoto, Japan, to the President of the Royal Asiatic Society to thank the Society for use of Sanskrit Manuscript 61 and to send his article, 'The Sanskrit Manuscript of Sitatapatra-Dharani in the Royal Asiatic Society'. The articles is with the letter. Typed, 10 pieces, dated 29 January 2001.
• Letter from Michael Pollock, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, to Colleen Schafroth, Director, Maryhill Museum of Art, concerning the manuscript, RAS Persian 211, a Treatise on Chess. With the letter is information about the manuscript. Four pieces, typed and copied, dated 20 May 2001.
• 'The Jaipur-Related Documents deposited with the Royal Asiatic Society by Dr Michael Willis' by Rima Hooja - list and description of Jaipur manuscripts. Typed, 5 pieces, dated 16 - 18 June 2003.
• Descriptions of the manuscripts Raffles Java 17 and Raffles Java 18 in the Society's collections. Typed in French, 4 pieces, dated November 2008.
• 'Report on the Turkish manuscript collection in the Royal Asaitic Society' by Dr Evrim Binbas, Royal Holloway University of London. Typed description of these manuscripts, 5 pieces, prepared for the Library Committee Meeting, 30 September 2010.
• Copies of emails between Kathy Lazenbatt, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, and Dr Edeltraud Harzer, Department of Asian Studies, University of Texas, concerning identification of Sanskrit manuscripts. Typed, 2 pieces, dated 8 April 2011.
• Publicity Material concerned with the 'Tales of the Malay World' Exhibition held at the National Library Building from 18 August 2017 - 25 February 2018 in which manuscripts from the Royal Asiatic Society were shown. These are a programme of events, exhibition guides in English and Malay - all printed pamphlets; a copy of Muse SG, No.36, Vol.10, Iss.0; with the article 'Tales of the Malay World' about the exhibition; and a copy of biblioasia, Jan-March 2018, with the article, 'Manuscripts from our Global Past' about the exhibition.
• Copy of email from Peter Carey to Annabel Gallop concerning Javanese names, typed, 1 piece, dated 22 July 2022.
• Letter from Devashan Kunasingham to Nancy Charley, Royal Asiatic Society Archivist, concerning the name and description of RAS Tamil MS. 14. Typed, 1 piece, dated 21 March 2024.

Two sets of postcards with illustrations from manuscripts:

• A set of 13 postcards with images from Muhammad Juki's Shahnamah of Firdausi, RAS Persian MS 239.
• Three postcards, 2 showing images from RAS Persian MS 239 and one image from the Gulistan of Sa'di, RAS Persian MS 258. These were photographed by Kevin Lovelock, British Museum. 1998.

Material for general or limited engagement with the archival collections. These are:

• Correspondence concerning the Papers of John Hansman and David Stronach. Two letters between Michael Pollcok, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian and John Hansman concerning a suitcase of material left by Hansman at the Society. Typed, 2 pieces, dated 28 November 1996-14 January 1997. Further correspondence between Nancy Charley, Royal Asiatic Society Archivist and John Hansman concerning the same material. Two electronic documents, dated 6 February 2018 -14 December 2018. (Archival documents made in 2025).
• Papers of Sir Aurel Stein - Letter from Helen Wang, British Museum to Michael Pollock, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian to send him a copt of the Society's entry into the Handbook to the Stein Collections in the UK. The copy is with the letter. Typed, 2 pieces, dated 14 August 1998. A further letter from A.D.H. Bivar to the Librarian, Royal Asiatic Society requesting a photographic copy of the portrait of Sir Aurel Stein. Typed, 1 piece, dated 16 January 2004.
• List of bound archives - list of minute books and other bound historic archival material. Electronic document, created in 2001; archival document created in 2025.
• Papers of William Claxton Peppé - Correspondence and the draft of a talk concerning the items in these papers and their discovery. Typed, 11 pieces, dated 2003.
• Papers of Brian Houghton Hodgson - An article from the Kantipur Daily, 14 November 2007 concerning some of the discoveries made by Dr Ramesh Dhungal on his initial listing of the Hodgson Papers; an article,'Hodgson's Legacy' which includes brief details of the collections at the Royal Asiatic Society. Typed and scanned, 6 pieces.
• 'Tackling Highly Original Order' by Nancy Charley, Royal Asiatic Society Archivist. concerning the initial sorting of the archival collections. Published in ARC magazine, Archives and Records Association, October 2015.
• 'Opium, Silk and the Missionaries in China' - exhibition brochure for exhibition at the Brunei Gallery, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 2021 in which the letter from Thomas Weeding (East India Company Agent and Independent Merchant) to Captain Harkness, Secretary to Royal Asiatic Society, concerning the gift of the "Grand Chop" or clearance document for the Sarah, the first ship to arrive in England directly from China after the East India Company relinquished its commercial character. was exhibited.

Correspondence and information concerning the Papers of Henry Creswicke Rawlinson. These papers were donated in the 1970s. They have not yet been catalogued but a comprehensive list can be found on our website: https://royalasiaticsociety.org/list-of-the-ras-collections-of-sir-henry-creswicke-rawlinson-bart-1810-1895/.

• Correspondence between Gordon Waterfield and Miss Wade, Lord Methuen's estate, concerning the Rawlinson Papers in the archives at Corsham Court. Typed and handwritten, 7 letters, dated 28 May 1963 - 9 September 1964.
• Correspondence concerning the deposit of Rawlinson archives at the National Army Museum and the transfer of archives from St Anthony's College to the Royal Asiatic Society. Typed and handwritten, 2 pieces, dated 6 December 1972- 21 January 1973.
• Correspondence between Helen Sandeman and Godfrey Goodwin, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, concerning the listing of the Rawlinson papers and transcription of some letters. The list and transcriptions are with the correspondence. Typed and handwritten, 52 pieces, dated 1 February 1989 - 12 February 1990.
• Correspondence from Lesley Adkins to Michael Pollock, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, to send a copy of the article, 'Dokumente zur Entzifferung der Altpersischen Keilschrift Durch H.C. Rawlinson' from Persica, Vol.7, 1975-8. The article is with this letter. A further letter to enquire again about the collections. Typed and copied, 10 pieces, letters dated 13 November 2002 - 13 April 2003.
• 'A Brief Description of the Collection of Rawlinson Papers at the Royal Asiatic Society' - a copy of the article written by Roger Parsons, Royal Asiatic Society Volunteer, and published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 25, Issue 3, July 2015. Typed, 13 pieces.
• 'NOTES ON SIGNIFICANT NAMES REFERRED TO IN THE RAWLINSON PAPERS' - biographical notes. Electronic document created in 2012, archival document created in 2025.

Correspondence and articles concerning the Papers of Richard Francis Burton which became part of the Collections in the 1920s following the death of Oscar Eckenstein:

• Correspondence between C.E. Whitting and the Society concerning the Burton collection. Typed, 4 pieces, dated 20-21 June 1972.
• 'Burton and his Peers' - an article from Country Life, 18 October 1973, concerning the sesquicentenary exhibition of the Royal Asiatic Society at the Victoria and Albert Museum but focussing on Richard Burton. Printed, 1 piece.
• Correspondence between Mary Lovell, Bernadette Rivett and Michael Pollock, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, concerning the listing of the Burton Collection (Papers and Printed material). Typed and photocopied, 25 pieces, dated 13 July 1996 - 5 May 2000.

The Papers of Thomas Manning were acquired by the Society in 2015 but before this acquisition the Society received enquiries as to where his Papers might be. Since the acquisition the papers have been the subject of both research and engagement. This is reflected in this subseries:

• Copy of a 'Report on the MSS etc. of T. Manning' by Edward B. Harris, dated 21 February 1900. This document lists papers in a box given to Harris on 31 January for his assessment. The copy of the list was provided by Mike Manning in 2016, 17 pieces.
• Script of Travellers' Tales, John Gielgud as Thomas Manning in 'A journey through Tibet, 1811-1812', first recorded 14 July 1966 and transmitted on 16 August 1966 on BBC Home Service. This copy was sent to the Society by Mike Manning in 2016, 10 pieces. A recording of the programme can be heard on our Digital Library: https://royalasiaticcollections.org/sir-john-gielgud-reading-thomas-mannings-narrative-of-his-travels-in-tibet/.
• Correspondence between Charles Bawden and Diana Crawford, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, concerning the whereabouts of the papers of Thomas Manning. Typed and handwritten, 5 pieces, dated 7 September 1972 - 16 October 1972.
• Correspondence between Mary Bellhouse and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning material for her biography of Thomas Manning. Typed and handwritten, 14 pieces, dated 22 January 1997 - 23 March 2013.
• 'First Englishman in Lhasa: intimate letters reveal story of unsung explorer' by Jason Burke, published in Guardian online 13 October 2015. Downloaded article, 3 pieces.
• National Heritage Memorial Fund Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended March 2016, containing the article, 'The lost papers of Thomas Manning'. The NHMF provided significant funding for the purchase of the papers.
• The Times Literary Supplement, 29 April 2016, containing the article 'After the fashion of their country: Thomas Manning and the early British study of China' by Edward Weech, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, and Nancy Charley, Royal Asiatic Society Archivist.
• China Daily, 2 August 2017, with the article 'Archive to shed light on Briton's Chinese adventure' by Cecily Liu concerning the acquisition of the Manning papers.
• 'Ancestry of Thomas Manning' - biographical details provided by Mike Manning. Typed, 2 pages, dated September 2017.
• Genealogical tree of the Manning family. Copy of a tree created by Deborah Manning.
• The Charles Lamb Society Programme 2017-18 detailing the talk 'travelling Romanticism: Thomas Manning in England, France and China' delivered by Edward Weech, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian on 14 October 2017 at the Society's premises.
• Copy of the article 'All the beauties of the Road: Thomas Manning's Romantic Visions, from the Lakes to Tibet, 1799-1812' by Edward Weech, published in The Charles Lamb Bulletin, Spring 2018.
• Programme for the Paris Symposium: Exiles, Emigrés and Expatriates in Romantic-Era paris and London, 12-13 April 2018 at which Edward Weech delivered the paper, 'Paris to a stranger is a desert full of knaves & whores - like London: Thomas Manning's Romantic Europe, 1802-1815'.
• Programme for The Friends of Coleridge Biennial Summer Conference, 6 - 9 August 2018 with abstract for the paper. 'Far beyond Coleridge or any man in the power of impressing: Thomas Manning and the Coleridge Circle', delivered by Edward Weech, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian.
• Lineage and Legacy: Thomas Manning and the Early British Study of China, 1800-1830' by Edward Weech, copy of the thesis submitted for the degree of PhD at the centre of Culture, Literary and Post-Colonial Studies, SOAS, University of London, 2020.
• Copy of 'Slow Boat to China' by Robert Bickers - a review of Chinese Dreams in Romantic England: The Life and Times of Thomas Manning by Edward Weech, Manchester University Press 2022. Review taken from Literary Review, March 2023.
• Publicity Posters for talks given by Edward Weech concerning Thomas Manning at the Institute of History and Philology Academia Sinica, Hunan university of Science and Technology, and Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong. Three pieces, dated 2023.

Information about, and evidence of engagement with the artwork collections of the Society. These are:

• Correspondence concerning the possible sale of, and notes about, the Qajar painting of two girls (RAS Cat.01.002) by an unknown artist. This sale did not go ahead. Typed and handwritten, 18 pieces, dated 14 May 1976 - 21 February 1978.
• 'Sotheby's Inventory and Valuation of the Oil Paintings, Busts and Plaques, Drawings, Works by Oriental Artists, Miscellaneous Engravings, Aquatints and Lithographs, Prints, Manuscripts and Indian Miniatures at 60 Queen's Gardens, London, W2 3AF and the Victoria and Albert Museum, to property of Royal Asiatic Society, taken for the purpose of Insurance at Mid-Sale Estimate, June 1992' - valuation report and allied correspondence between James Stourton, Director, Sotheby's and the Royal Asiatic Society, dated 11-29 June 1992.
• Reviews for the 'Catalogue of Paintings, Drawings, Engravings and Busts in the Collections of the Royal Asiatic Society' by Raymond Head, published by the Society in 1991. Copies of reviews from Ars Asiatiques XLVII 1992, Oriental Art, Winter 1993/3, and History Today February 1992.
• 'Equestrian portrait of Dara Shikoh' (RAS Cat.053.001) - postcard from a photograph by Kevin Lovelock, British Museum, 1998.
• Descriptions of the Chinese popular prints donated by Brian Houghton Hodgson and John Robert Morrison, description by Yin Hwang, dated 2000.
• 'Lieutenant-Colonel Godfrey Phipps Baker, 1786-1850' by Stuart Wilkinson, Society of Dyers and Colourists - article about Phipps Baker who donated a collection of artworks of Java. The article is undated.
• Correspondence between Dr Patrick Tuck, University of Liverpool and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the use of the image of the Chinese Court of Justice (RAS Cat.01.001) as the image for the conference menu card at the 'British Ships in China Seas Conference' held 17-20 September 2002. Correspondence is dated 31 May 2002.
• 'Ethiopian Paintings at the Royal Asiatic Society' by Alison Ohta - an article within The Anglo-Ethiopian Society News File, Summer 2008.
• 'Ethiopian Paintings held by the Royal Asiatic Society' by Geoffrey Ben-Nathan - an article within The Anglo-Ethiopian Society News File, Summer 2009, in relation to a lecture delivered by Heidi Cutts (British Museum) and Dorothea McEwan (Warburg Institute) on 24 March 2009. Note that in the same booklet there is another article by Chris Grant on the 2009 AGM lecture delivered by Louise Carver on population and sustainability in Ethiopia.
• Article relating to Dora Gordine and her connection with the Society. These are: 'Dora Gordine and the Royal Asiatic Society', 'Dora Gordine and Freya Stark', both by Dr Jonathan Black, Senior Research Fellow, Dorich House Museum, dated February 2008; and a copy of ‘Alive and significant: Aspects of Indian Art, Stella Kramrisch and Dora Gordine in South Kensington c. 1940' by Sarah Victoria Turner, published in ‘Wasafiri’, 2011. This latter article is an electronic article first created in 2011 and made into an archival document in 2025.
• 'Age of discovery' by Fran Gillespie - article concerning the exhibition 'India: East/West' of paintings and drawings from the Society's Collections held at the Virginal Commonwealth University, Qatar, March 2010. The article is from the Gulf Times, 25 March 2010.
• 'The Jones collection of botanical drawings at the Royal Asiatic Society' - script of a talk given by Kathy Lazenbatt, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, at the Botany in British India study day, British Library, 7 December 2012.
• 'Representations of Nepal in the nineteenth century: the watercolour paintings of Dr. Henry Ambrose Oldfield', a dissertation submitted for the University of Sussex MA in Art History, 2 September 2013 in which the Hodgson Collection of Nepal paintings were used in the candidate's research.
• 'Conservation of a Shi'ite Pilgrimage Scroll from the Royal Asiatic Society' by Mathilde Renauld in the brochure for the MA Conservation 2018, Camberwell College of the Arts, London.
• 'A Global Society', an article in Asian Affairs, July 2017. concerning the new acquisition of a portrait of recent presidents and the director of the Society.

The Society possesses two versions of the Indian game of snakes and ladders, RAS Cat.051.001 by a Maharashtra artist reflecting a Hindu interpretation, c.1800, and RAS Cat. 064.001, by an Ajmer artist, c.1810 reflecting a Sufi interpretation. The material concerning these is:

• Correspondence from Henry Beveridge to Oliver Codrington, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, concerning the 'serpents and ladders' diagrams in the Society's collections, the interpretation of the Persian inscription on the Sufi version, 'Gyan Chauser', and an equivalent work in the British Museum. Handwritten, 5 pieces, dated 23-31 July 1915.
• 'Miscellaneous Communications' - offprint from the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, July 1916 with F.E. Pargiter's articles, 'Map of the Earth' concerning the Jambudvipa, Jain map of the universe (see RAS COLL5/7/3) and 'An Indian Game: Heaven of Hell' concerning RAS Cat.051.001. Also a later photocopy of the chart of the game.
• A copy of two pages from 'The Indian Game of Snakes and Ladders' by Andrew Topsfield, Artibus Asiae, 1985, relating to the Muslim (Sufi) game in the Society's collection.
• 'The Indian Game of Snakes and Ladders, and What Happened to it, Part I' by Irving L. Finkel which quotes from both Pargiter and Topsfield, undated.
• 'Cobras and ladders...game that was all the rage in the Raj' by Christ Hastings concerning the launch of the Digital Library of the Society on which the Snakes and Ladders game is featured. The Mail on Sunday, 18 February 2018.

The Society's collections hold two Jambudvipa - RAS Cat.065.001 and RAS Cat.069.001. The information about these is:

• 'Royal Asiatic Society, Number 065.001, Jambudvipa, a Jain map of the universe, c.1830' - an article by Dr Nalini Balbir concerning this item. Also with this is another article by Balbir, 'Jain Yantra kept at the Royal Asiatic Society', dated January 2012.
• 'Science Museum: 5000 years of Science and Innovation - Illuminating India' - advertising brochure for the exhibition in which the Society's Jambudvipa is featured, 2017-2018.
• 'The Silk Road to Silicon Valley - 5000 years of Indian innovation' - copy of an article from The Times, 3 October 2017 concerning the Science Museum exhibition in which the Jambudvipa was shown.