Letter from Thomas Manning to William Manning from Calcutta. He writes of his frustrated attempt to get to Pekin whilst in Canton giving some of the reasons why it could not be accomplished. The suggestion has been made that it tries to go via Tibet and letters have been sent for him and he has other private letters with him. He had a good passage though was without convoy and therefore fearful of being taken in the Bay of Bengal. He has numerous dinner invitations including to Sir William Burroughs. He dined the previous evening with Mr Palmar, the Banker. "Turban on his head, beard over a foot long. all eyes staring at me". He has rented a spacious house on the circular road and justifies it by claiming it is necessary so he stays healthy and can study. There are some missionaries in Calcutta who claim to know something of the Chinese language but they have it wrong which he has tried to explain so that their translations of Confucius are map of mistakes. He is waiting to sail for Madras. Handwritten, 4 sides. Dated 28th April, 1810

Draft letter from Thomas Manning to the Directors of the East India Company concerning the Chinese man he has brought with him and whether the East India Company would have reason to employ him. Written From Dr Tuthill's, 13 Soho Square, the letter's postscript has the words "stupid letter" in Manning's hand. Dated 1817. Handwritten, 1 piece, 3 sides

Letter from [Robert Morrison] to Thomas Manning from Macao, China. He is responding to Manning's letter inquiring whether he could purchase some Chinese books for Manning's Parisian friends. He will inquire of the booksellers and send a list and then they can send a money order next season. He mentions that Ball has never written and that the political situation in China remains difficult. His son John is making good progress with Chinese. Signature has been cut from the letter. Dated 11 February 1832. Handwritten 1 piece, 3 sides

Letter from Stanislas Julien to Thomas Manning asking him to procure the listed titles. The letter mentions Payne & Foss Booksellers. Dated 17 March 1830. Handwritten in French and Chinese, 1 piece, 2 sides

Letter from Stanislas Julien to Thomas Manning concerning that he has sent to Mr Mitchell of the Translating Committee "le petit Romay chinois". Dated 16 March 1834. Handwritten in French, 1 piece, 1 side

Letter from Stanislas Julien to Thomas Manning in which he writes about several Chinese texts and the work which has been occupying him. Dated 28 October 1836. Handwritten in French and Chinese, 1 piece, 3 sides

Notebook containing notes on Tibetan vocabulary. Also some Latin notes and notes on events and people in China; grammar notes; English lists of words. In the back of the book is a partial journal of his time in Tibet - mostly the beginning of the journey and includes an entry about meeting the Dalai Lama "This day I saluted the Grand Lama!! Beautiful Youth. Face poetically affecting. Could have wept. Very happy to have seen him & his blessed smile. hope often to see him again". Large, half-calf notebook, warped, handwritten in pencil and ink.
Inserted into the notebook:

• Note to and from Thomas Beale concerning whether Beale was expecting the Hoopoo, handwritten, undated
• Vocabulary list 4 sheets of Chinese writing including two copies of a contract between Manning and Gao Hengxin for 1000 yuan, dated 20 January 1815
• "Recipe for [Hang yummtoy] or Almond Syrup", Letter from Sian Seng.

"Goldsmith. An Almanack" for 1833. Small leather bound almanac with annotations on blank pages including Chinese symbols, weather recording, Greek and Latin, book titles. Loose sheets are address for [Mr Rosin], 6 Little Maddox Street and notes regarding a Commission. Red leather cover with loose sheets inserted. Some damage to cover flap.

Notebook with mathematical notes, diagrams and problems. Also contains philosophical musings on man and war, geometrical drawings, notes on Chinese words, diagram for creating a weigh balance, instructions to extract salt and draft lines for a poem. Handwritten in a blue paper cover notebook written from both ends. Reverse cover is missing. Cover states "Some philosophical observations in this book".

Thomas Manning's Chinese book collection was donated to the RAS Library after his death. However his books were added to the general Chinese collections. At some point, there has been an attempt to identify those in the collection which had belonged to Manning. This series consists of two catalogues, some notes on Manning and one later letter. The majority of the Chinese book collection in the RAS was donated to the Brotherton Library, Leeds, in 1963.