New additions to the Digital Library:<\/strong><\/h3>\nWhile our physical library remains closed due to the nationwide lockdown, RAS staff are still available to help with your research enquiries. Moreover, our Digital Library remains open for business, and we are delighted to have been able to make available online another 21 manuscripts, thanks to the support of the Byoma Kusuma Buddhadharma Sangha\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\nThese manuscripts are Buddhist texts from Nepal, that were collected by Brian Houghton Hodgson (1801-1894), British Resident in Nepal and presented to the Royal Asiatic Society in 1835 and 1836. While most of the manuscripts Hodgson collected were copies made in the early 1800s, some date back as far as the seventeenth century; while still others are even earlier. Indeed, the oldest manuscript in the Society’s collection was donated by Hodgson: a copy of the A\u1e63\u1e6das\u0101hasrik\u0101 Praj\u00f1\u0101p\u0101ramit\u0101<\/em> S\u016btra<\/span>, thought to date from the thirteenth century. As well as embodying an important part of Nepal\u2019s cultural heritage, the manuscripts Hodgson collected proved to be a key source for European scholars, such as Eug\u00e8ne Burnouf, who were working in the early nineteenth century to try and understand the history of Buddhism in South Asia. We are delighted that these texts can now be freely viewed online from Nepal and anywhere else: https:\/\/royalasiaticcollections.org\/south-asian-manuscripts\/<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Hodgson-blog-bost-.jpg\")
Drawing of Brian Houghton Hodgson when he was younger.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n <\/p>\n
During his time in Nepal, Hodgson developed diverse interests in its zoology, architecture, languages, and religion. Hodgson wrote almost a hundred articles on the birds and mammals of Nepal, and he commissioned the artist Raj Man Singh to make a series of architectural drawings of the Kathmandu valley. To this day, these drawings remain a key source for understanding Nepal\u2019s extraordinary built heritage. They are also available on our Digital Library: https:\/\/royalasiaticcollections.org\/collection\/hodgson-drawings\/<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Hodgson-digitisied--300x176.jpg\")
Screenshot of a Hodgson manuscript taken from the Digital Library<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nCollections Evening announcement:<\/strong><\/h3>\nWe are also pleased to announce that the Society will hold another virtual Collections Evening, on Thursday 25 March at 6.30pm. These events are an important opportunity to celebrate ongoing work to catalogue, conserve, and understand RAS collections \u2013 work that has been able to continue despite the challenges of the past year. We are pleased to present three speakers for this occasion:<\/p>\n
Emma Jones, new RAS Archivist, will speak about her work cataloguing the Oriental Translation Fund and Abraham Poliak Papers, and reflect on the challenges presented by limited access to physical collections during the pandemic.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Abraham-Polak.jpg\")
Image of Abraham Poliak, copyright Wikipedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nLily Colgan (Royal Asiatic Society) will reflect on her experiences cataloguing the diverse archival collection of the West brothers, five railway engineers who compiled meticulously detailed notes on the Kanheri Caves near Mumbai, and other sites, in the second half of the nineteenth century.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Drawing-from-the-West-collection-300x226.png\")
Drawing from the West collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n <\/p>\n
Jung Min (Royal Asiatic Society) will introduce the history of RAS Korea and discuss the importance of textual sources for documenting its long and storied history<\/p>\n
These manuscripts are Buddhist texts from Nepal, that were collected by Brian Houghton Hodgson (1801-1894), British Resident in Nepal and presented to the Royal Asiatic Society in 1835 and 1836. While most of the manuscripts Hodgson collected were copies made in the early 1800s, some date back as far as the seventeenth century; while still others are even earlier. Indeed, the oldest manuscript in the Society’s collection was donated by Hodgson: a copy of the A\u1e63\u1e6das\u0101hasrik\u0101 Praj\u00f1\u0101p\u0101ramit\u0101<\/em> S\u016btra<\/span>, thought to date from the thirteenth century. As well as embodying an important part of Nepal\u2019s cultural heritage, the manuscripts Hodgson collected proved to be a key source for European scholars, such as Eug\u00e8ne Burnouf, who were working in the early nineteenth century to try and understand the history of Buddhism in South Asia. We are delighted that these texts can now be freely viewed online from Nepal and anywhere else: https:\/\/royalasiaticcollections.org\/south-asian-manuscripts\/<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n During his time in Nepal, Hodgson developed diverse interests in its zoology, architecture, languages, and religion. Hodgson wrote almost a hundred articles on the birds and mammals of Nepal, and he commissioned the artist Raj Man Singh to make a series of architectural drawings of the Kathmandu valley. To this day, these drawings remain a key source for understanding Nepal\u2019s extraordinary built heritage. They are also available on our Digital Library: https:\/\/royalasiaticcollections.org\/collection\/hodgson-drawings\/<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We are also pleased to announce that the Society will hold another virtual Collections Evening, on Thursday 25 March at 6.30pm. These events are an important opportunity to celebrate ongoing work to catalogue, conserve, and understand RAS collections \u2013 work that has been able to continue despite the challenges of the past year. We are pleased to present three speakers for this occasion:<\/p>\n Emma Jones, new RAS Archivist, will speak about her work cataloguing the Oriental Translation Fund and Abraham Poliak Papers, and reflect on the challenges presented by limited access to physical collections during the pandemic.<\/p>\n Lily Colgan (Royal Asiatic Society) will reflect on her experiences cataloguing the diverse archival collection of the West brothers, five railway engineers who compiled meticulously detailed notes on the Kanheri Caves near Mumbai, and other sites, in the second half of the nineteenth century.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jung Min (Royal Asiatic Society) will introduce the history of RAS Korea and discuss the importance of textual sources for documenting its long and storied history<\/p>\nCollections Evening announcement:<\/strong><\/h3>\n