Joshua Marshman was a missionary based at Serampore with William Carey. He was engaged in translation, including translating Confucius and the Bible into Chinese. It appears from these letters that whilst Manning was in Bengal, awaiting permission to travel to Tibet, he helped Marshman with his translations. There are 8 letters.

Letter from Joshua Marshman to Thomas Manning. He thanks Manning for his kind remarks about his translations and compares it with Mr [Harrison's] Grammar. Dated 7th [ ] 1810. Handwritten, 1 piece, 3 sides

Letter from Joshua Marshman to Thomas Manning in which he sends translation for Manning to edit. He also relates that Mr Robinson and Mr [Cirnish] will be leaving in about a fortnight on the route that Manning intends to take. Mr Robinson intends to tramp the [Bowlam [?Bolan)] hills and may be a point of contact for Manning. He hopes that Manning will succeed and others may follow including the spread of religion. Dated 29 September 1810. Handwritten, 1 piece, 3 sides

Letter from Joshua Marshman to Thomas Manning. He discusses Manning's journey to try to reach Peking. He says that he has discussed it with Mr (William) Carey. [Lapar] would not be able to go on the journey because he is needed for the work in Serampore and is in poor health. He considers Manning's idea of going via Burma and wishes that he could just set him down in Peking. Dated 28th August 1810, Handwritten, 1 piece, 3 sides

Letter from Joshua Marshman to Thomas Manning asking for help in editing his work which he has rushed to translate in the hope that Manning can look at it before he leaves. Dated August 24th 1810. Handwritten, 1 piece, 2 sides

Letter from Joshua Marshman to Thomas Manning to send him his copy of Matthew's gospel in Chinese, hot off the press . He also sends an index of the words contained in Rodriques' Dictionary with annotations of those in Kungshie's dictionary. Marshman has an audience with Lord Minto and hopes that he will be able to help Manning out of his present state of anxiety. Dated 20th May 1810, Handwritten, 1 piece, 4 sides

Letter from Joshua Marshman to Thomas Manning with which he sends his MS [Lectionary] and asks Manning to send him his that he may give it a new binding. He says he will take a hasty breakfast with Manning tomorrow. Dated 6pm Tuesday. Handwritten 1 piece, 3 sides

Letter from Joshua Marshman to Thomas Manning thanking for help in amending his work and hoping that he will look at the last chapter before he leaves. He will always have a memory of his kindness when Manning is in Lhasa or Peking or London. He hopes that he will have an opportunity to repay it. Dated 14th September 1810. Handwritten, 1 piece, 3 sides

Thomas Manning lived in Asia from 1807-1817, mainly in Canton and Macao. But he also tried to reach the interior of China via Tibet. The correspondence covers this period and is of both official and personal nature.