Showing 21 results

In caring for the collections and making them accessible to researchers various lists and catalogues have been collated throughout the Society's history. Some of these have been published but many are unpublished or in draft form prior to publication. These have been kept as important sources of both information about the nature of the collections and also how the Society has historically organised them. Please note, however, that not all the items in the catalogues and lists are still within the Society's collections.

Catalogues and handlists concerning the Collections of the Royal Asiatic Society. These include catalogues and lists which cover more than one type of material and also catalogues and lists of other catalogues and lists.

Catalogues and lists which concern more than one type of material in the Collections. These are:

• Bound manuscript volume of lists identified on the label of front board as 'List of Sanskrit and Prakrit MSS from Colonel Tod; List of Nepalese Buddhist MSS (B.H. Hodgson'; List of South Indian Sanskrit MSS from General Whish; and List of Buddhist MSS in Burmese Character'. On the back board the label states 'Catalogue of Maps, Charts, Plans, Drawings, Engraving, Inscriptions &c in the Library of the Royal Asiatic Society'. However the lists cover more then either these titles suggest and have been added to at different periods. Handwritten, the spine is missing from the volume and is therefore in a fragile condition.
• Catalogue of MSS in packing case since the Library was in Albermarle St. & now in Blue Binders' - typed list of mixed material (much of it now considered archival). There is also a 'Duplicate copy' which is more extensive and includes many maps. The Society left Albermarle St in 1920 and so these lists date to some time after that. Foolscap paper, 6 and 12 pieces including covers.
• 'Portraits', 'Busts', 'Illustrated MSS' - handwritten lists detailing some of the Society's possessions. 2 pieces, foolscap paper.
• 'R.A.S. MSS & Books sent to Nat. Prov. Bank, St. James's St.' - handwritten lists of the contents of each box. 4 pieces, foolscap with accompanying envelope.
• List of MSS & Books deposited with Lloyd's Bank, 16 St James's St., April 1939 (Boxes 1-12), Sept 1939 (Boxes 13,14) - handwritten lists of the contents of each box. 6 pieces, foolscap.
• 'Periodicals', 'Sets', 'Individual Works', 'R.A.S. Supplementary List I: Books for Storage', 'Royal Asiatic Society' - typed lists with handwritten annotations detailing various of the Society's collections according to their headings. 10 pieces, foolscap.
• 'Royal Asiatic Society. List of contents of cupboards not yet fully sorted. 1956' - typed list detailing collections by cupboard. 3 pieces, foolscap.
• 'Royal Asiatic Society' - typed lists giving information concerning uncatalogued European manuscripts, Drawings, Pictures, Casts & Busts, Photos, Copper Plates and Seals, and Maps. 2 pieces, foolscap.
• Two guard books containing lists of the Collections of the Society. These are mainly typed sheets and photocopies pasted into the books with handwritten annotations. They are divided into sections.
  Volume I
  • General Introduction to the Plan and Aim of the two ledgers (this was not included – but a note added to say this would happen at the Section level).
  • Manuscripts Section
  • Papers Section
  • Elsewhere Section
  Volume II
  • Elsewhere Section – continued
  • Paintings Section
  • Photographs and Lantern Slides
  • Objects Section
  • Printed Section
  • Maps, Charts
  • Index
  It is unknown when these were compiled but probably date to 1970s-1980s. These are kept in the Reading Room Office.
• 'Contents of Items located in Old Strong Room [OSR] - Front Basement Boxes. As at April 1998.' Computer generated list of items, 16 pieces.

The Burton Collection

The Burton Collection of Oscar Eckenstein was acquired by Lewis C. Loyd in 1921 and donated to the Society in 1939. This contains both printed material and archives. A list was compiled by Mary S. Lovell and Bernadette Rivett in March 2000 with a final amendment 27 April 2000. Computer printed, 43 pages.

Storey Collection
After the death of Charles Ambrose Storey his possessions were bequeathed to the Society. This included, printed material, manuscripts, archives and some artworks. The following lists are related to this collection.

• 'Shelf List of Storey Collection: Catalogues of Persian Manuscripts', typed, 5 pieces.
• 'Shelf List of Storey Collection: Catalogues of Arabic, Hindustani &c Manuscripts', typed, 2 pieces.
• 'Shelf List of Storey Collection: Catalogues of Printed Books', typed 1 pieces.
• 'Storey Collection' 'Introduction' written by Michael Pollock, Librarian, Royal Asiatic Society with 'Handlist of Printed Books in the Storey Collection', computer printed, 67 pieces.

Printed and handwritten catalogues of the Society's Chinese Library, including:

• 'Catalogue of the Chinese Library of the Royal Asiatic Society' by the Rev. S. Kidd, Professor of Chinese Literature, University College, London, 1838. This contains both the Chinese books and manuscripts that belonged to the Society at that time. Printed with handwritten annotations, 58 pages. This is bound together with Henry F. Holt's catalogue published in 1889 (see below), with note on the flyleaf saying 'Bound, November 1930'. The Holt catalogue is also heavily annotated. This volume is kept in the Reading Room Office.

• ‘A Catalogue of the Chinese Manuscripts in the Library of the Royal Asiatic Society', compiled between 1878 and 1881 by Mr Henry F. Holt, Joint Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society with Mr Giles of the Chinese Consular Service correcting the proofs. Printed with handwritten annotations, 116 pages, bound volume, dated 1889. Two copies. Inserted in one volume is ‘Chinese Catalogue: List of Missing numbers not found by Professor Shelley Wang’, handwritten list, 3 pieces, dated 4 April 1938. Again this catalogue describes both the Chinese books and manuscripts. These two volumes are kept in the Reading Room Office.

• 'Mr Shelley Wang's Chinese Catalogue 1936', handwritten catalogue of the Society's Chinese Library complied by Professor Shelley Wang in 1936. This describes Chinese books, manuscripts and printed maps, as well as some Japanese material. The catalogue begins with a list of books marked not found by Shelly Wang, followed by an index listing the items (including those listed in the Holt catalogue) by romanised Chinese title in alphabetical order. The main portion of the catalogue lists items from No. 598, following Holt's numbering, to No. 669, although items after No. 649 are in a different hand and seem to be later additions. The volume is kept in the Reading Room Office. There are multiple inserts in the volume and these have been stored separately in an archival folder. The inserts are:

  • Letter from Shelly Wang to Colonel Hoysted, writing that he is glad the cataloguing work has now finished. He writes further about bringing a case of cards [to the Library?], and comments on the translation of ‘The Western Chamber’ which he had been asked to review. Handwritten, one letter, dated 25 January 1937

  • Letter from Colonel Hoysted to Professor Yetts, enclosing Wang’s letter and asking him to have a look at the completed catalogue. He further asks about the fee for a permanent membership of the Society that was offered to Wang and his advice on the review of ‘The Western Chamber’. Handwritten, one letter, dated 27 January 1937

  • Letter from Colonel Hoysted to Shelly Wang thanking for his work. He enquires the omission of book titles beginning with Y in his index. Typed, one letter, dated 20 March 1937

  • List of books transferred from the Chinese Library to Cupboard 4 Right. Handwritten, 2 pieces.

  • List of Chinese manuscript dictionaries. Handwritten, 1 piece.

  • Diagrams showing the arrangement of Chinese Library on the shelfs by index numbers, with missing books marked in red. Handwritten, 1 piece.

  • Note on item No 662, being four pictorial maps of Chinese Buddhist mountains, dating one of the maps to after about 1840 (now catalogued as Artwork 104). Typed, 1 piece.

  • Note giving suggestions on the Society’s Chinese Library, including trading duplicate copies, enlarging the Library and hiring an assistant librarian. Handwritten, 1 piece.

  • List of Chinese books not found. Handwritten, 1 piece.

  • Note containing some [ancient Chinese characters], annotated 'Wang Collection. Anglo Chinese College, [?]'. Handwritten, 1 piece.

  • A set of index cards for books beginning with the title 'Ta Ch’ing'

Lists of catalogues of the collections in the Royal Asiatic Society. These are:

• 'Manuscript Catalogues of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland', list to accompany a letter from Assistant Librarian, Royal Asiatic Society to Professor G.E. Weil, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Universitie de Nancy, France, concerning the Society's collections. Typed, 5 pieces, dated 12 July 1977.
• 'Printed Book Catalogues'- two different versions. One is of 4 pages and lists printed catalogues of books and Arabic script manuscripts. The second is of 7 pages and lists catalogues of books, Arabic script manuscripts, Malay and Indonesian manuscripts, Chinese books and manuscripts, Sanskrit and other Indian manuscripts, Manuscripts from S.E. Asia and Sri Lanka, Tibetan and Mongolian manuscripts, European manuscripts, Archives, Maps, and Periodicals. All computer printed.
• 'London, Royal Asiatic Society' - a comprehensive list of the catalogues produced for the Society's collections. 9 pieces, computer printed.

Electronic documents - archival versions were created in 2024.

• 'LIST OF CATALOGUES 1987' - detailed list of the catalogues produced for the collections of the Society. Content created in 2001.
• 'CATALOGUES OF THE COLLECTIONS IN THE LIBRARY OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY' - summary of catalogues for printed books, manuscripts and artworks. First created c.2001.
• 'CATALOGUES OF THE COLLECTIONS IN THE LIBRARY OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY' - detailed version of catalogues for collections of the Society and includes a statistical supplement to approximate the amount of each type of material. Content created in 2001.
• 'LIBRARY CATALOGUES' - summary list of the catalogues held for the Society's collections. Content created in 2006.

This series contains catalogues and handlists for books, pamphlets, and periodicals.

Historic catalogues and handlists created for the Society's books:

• 'Royal Asiatic Society: MSS. Catalogue of the Chinese Library 1881' - two large handwritten bound volumes with leather spines and gold titling on their front covers containing details of the Chinese books in the Royal Asiatic Society in 1881.

• 'Catalogue of the Chinese Library of the Royal Asiatic Society' - a hard cover notebook with title on the front board containing a list of the Chinese books in the Library under subject headings. This is undated. Please note the boards are loose from the notebook.

• 'Chinese books of which the Library of the R.A.S. has apparently more than one copy' - handwritten list, 4 sides, identifying duplicates. With this list is a second list, 2 sides of 'Chinese Books apparently not in the R.A.S. Library and in the University College Library in duplicate apparently'. Both are undated but the paper of the second list is watermarked for 1859.

• 'Catalogue of The Russian Books in the possession of The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland' - handwritten notebook without boards detailing Russian books, undated.

• Annotated Proofs for the 'Catalogue of Printed Books published before 1932 in the Library of the Royal Asiatic Society'. The publication was printed in two volumes in 1940. The proofs are pasted into 6 large bound volumes and are extensively annotated.

• Photocopy of the Card Catalogue - a card catalogue was created for the Society's collection probably dating from post-1945. This is a series of photocopies of that catalogue created to form a back up and divided according to the drawers containing the cards. There are 17 archival folders. The copy for Drawer 6 FAA - GOS is absent.

• List of Complimentary Copies of Books & Magazine, published by the Burma Translation Society, Rangoon Burma' with annotated title, 'Accessions in Burmese 1954'. Typed list, 2 pieces, dated 1954.

• 'A Few Rare Books Found in this Library' - typed list of 68 books on 4 sheets of foolscap paper.

• 'List of Rare Books held in R.A.S. Old & New Strong Rooms (May 1969), computer printed with handwritten annotations, 28 pages held together with a red plastic spine. This list is located in the Reading Room Office.

• List of publications undertaken with the James G. Forlong Fund, Miscellaneous R.A.S. Publications, the Dr B.C. Law Trust Fund, Royal Asiatic Society Seminar Papers, The Oriental Translation Fund original and new series, the Prize Publication Fund, and the R.A.S. Monograph Fund, computer printed, 9 pages, c. 1999.

• 'Japanese Vernacular Language Books at the R.A.S.' created in 2000, with associated background information, computer printed, 14 pages. This list is located in the Reading Room Office.

• 'South Asia - Official Publications - Back Basement' - computer printed list, 2 pages, undated.

• 'List of Aurobindo Books' - computer printed, 8 pages, undated.

Electronic documents - all these were created into archival documents in April 2024. Their original creation date is noted in the list.

• 'THE SIR GEORGE THOMAS STAUNTON COLLECTION HELD IN THE R.A.S. LIBRARY - BOOKS (UP-DATED LIST AS AT THURSDAY 18TH MARCH 1999) - first created in 1998 and updated in 1999.
• 'Books on Central Asia in the RAS Library' - created 04/02/2003.
• 'Borneo Books' - created 12/04/2011.
• 'Contents of Items Located in Old Strong Room as of April 1998' - created 22/06/1998.
• 'Early Turkish Books' - created 06/09/2010.
• 'Preliminary Catalogue of Japanese Books catalogued by Peter Kornicki in October 2007, with notes by Akira Hirano, September 2007', document created 21/11/2007.
• 'Pre 1820 book's - created 13/05/201.
• 'Turkish Printed Books' - prepared by Evrim Bimbas with introductory email and report, document created 11/07/2011.

Lists concerned with pamphlets within the Society's collections:

• 'Sir Gerard Clauson's Collection of Offprints' - list of offprints given to the Society by Gerard Clauson. Typed, 3 pieces, [19702].
• 'Draft List of the Contents of most of the Bound Volumes of Pamphlets' - computer printed, 62 pages, undated. This list is located in the Reading Room Office.

Electronic documents - all these were created into archival documents in April 2024. Their original creation date is noted in the list.

• 'Miscellaneous Materials in the Royal Asiatic Society Library, London, A Working List' prepared by Yogesh Mishra, December 2007 - created 08/01/2008.
• Bound pamphlets - created 29/09/2000.

Catalogues and handlists for periodicals and newspapers in the Royal Asiatic Society's collections:

• 'Handlist of the Periodical Titles in the Library of the Royal Asiatic Society', ring bound pamphlet created June 1997.
• 'List of Newspapers Held in the R.A.S. Library, May 1998', computer printed, 10 pages.
• 'List of Current Periodicals on the Reading Room Shelves, 13th October 1998', computer printed, 10 pages.
• 'R.A.S. Periodical Holdings: Brief Details June 1997, Part rev. July 2001', computer printed, 52 pages.

Electronic documents - all these were created into archival documents in April 2024. Their original creation date is noted in the list.

• 'Bound Serials 7 June 1997' - created 05/07/2001.
• 'Current Periodicals List [1998]' - created 21/10/1998.
• 'R.A.S. Periodical Holdings: Brief Details June 1997. Part rev. July 2001. Rev July 2004' - created 11/03/2003.
• 'Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 1940-2001, Alphabetical list of articles in JRAS by AUTHOR' - created 06/06/2002.

This series contains catalogues and handlists for the manuscripts within the Society's collections.