Welcome to the Archive Catalogue for the Royal Asiatic Society. The Society’s Collections were established with the founding of the Society in 1823. Many early members were generous benefactors, and throughout the Society’s history there have been further additions.
Today, the collections provide an important resource for anyone wishing to study and gain further understanding of Asian cultures and history. On this site you can search our catalogued archival holdings. These include the Personal Papers of scholars of Asian studies, Institutional records for the Society, and Special Collections.
The collections can be consulted in our Reading Room which is open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10.00-17.00. Anyone is welcome to visit to consult our collections during these hours, and almost all of our collections can be made available at short notice. However, we would prefer that appointments are made. Please contact the archivist, Nancy Charley, nc@royalasiaticsociety.org to make an appointment. When you first visit the Reading Room, please bring photographic identification and proof of address. This is required to register as a researcher and use our collections.
Further information about our archives can be found on the Society’s website (https://royalasiaticsociety.org/archives-home/). Some of our archives have been digitised and are on our Digital Library (https://royalasiaticcollections.org/). The catalogue for our printed material, manuscripts, artworks and photographs can be found here (https://ras.koha-ptfs.co.uk/).
