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The Society possesses two versions of the Indian game of snakes and ladders, RAS Cat.051.001 by a Maharashtra artist reflecting a Hindu interpretation, c.1800, and RAS Cat. 064.001, by an Ajmer artist, c.1810 reflecting a Sufi interpretation. The material concerning these is:

• Correspondence from Henry Beveridge to Oliver Codrington, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, concerning the 'serpents and ladders' diagrams in the Society's collections, the interpretation of the Persian inscription on the Sufi version, 'Gyan Chauser', and an equivalent work in the British Museum. Handwritten, 5 pieces, dated 23-31 July 1915.
• 'Miscellaneous Communications' - offprint from the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, July 1916 with F.E. Pargiter's articles, 'Map of the Earth' concerning the Jambudvipa, Jain map of the universe (see RAS COLL5/7/3) and 'An Indian Game: Heaven of Hell' concerning RAS Cat.051.001. Also a later photocopy of the chart of the game.
• A copy of two pages from 'The Indian Game of Snakes and Ladders' by Andrew Topsfield, Artibus Asiae, 1985, relating to the Muslim (Sufi) game in the Society's collection.
• 'The Indian Game of Snakes and Ladders, and What Happened to it, Part I' by Irving L. Finkel which quotes from both Pargiter and Topsfield, undated.
• 'Cobras and ladders...game that was all the rage in the Raj' by Christ Hastings concerning the launch of the Digital Library of the Society on which the Snakes and Ladders game is featured. The Mail on Sunday, 18 February 2018.

The Society's collections have always been open for researchers to come and use. This in turn has generated additional information concerning the collections both formally through articles and research papers and informally through correspondence. The Society has also sought to promote its collections through both events and articles. The papers within this series concern these activities. Though much of the administration of these activities does not create items of archival value, the ones kept were deemed to be of use for future researchers.

Information collated about the collections from the early history of the Society:

• Information concerning RAS Persian Manuscript 258 Gulistan of Sa'di. Handwritten and typed, 3 pieces, undated.
• 'Memo' - index of contents of an unknown [Thai] manuscript or book about Buddhism and the Siam court. Handwritten, 1 piece, undated.
• '[Kalunelle Wieharre]' - a list of manuscripts or index for a manuscript concerning Buddhism including some of the jatakas. Handwritten, 1 piece, undated.
• 'No' - an index for a manuscript found within Raffles Malay Manuscript 3 but not pertaining to it but to a manuscript written by different hands in the Marwari dialect and chiefly of Jain poems, possibly relating to Tod Ms.106. Handwritten, 4 sides, undated.
• 'An attempt to identify the Indian artist who painted a picture of Jahangir's Court' - an article by Henry Beveridge identifying the artist and the people portrayed in a watercolour painting of Jahangir and his courtiers donated to the Royal Asiatic Society by Major Charles Stewart, 5 July 1834, having been brought to England by Colonel Champion in 1775 and cleaned and regilded by Vaux in November 1880. Handwritten, 23 pages, dated 20 June 1915. The picture is no longer in the collections. Though written about in Foster's article The Pictures, etc., of the Royal Asiatic Society, (J.R.A.S. 1924) it was recorded as missing by the 1970 in the Society's guard books.
• Translation of the full-size copy of the Inscription to the Taula of Hafiz in Shiraz - handwritten, 2 pieces, [1929].

Material giving information regarding the printed material within our collections. These are:

• 'Gravures des conquêtes de l'Empereur de Chine K'ien-Long au Musée Gimet' - a printed pamphlet containing notes on the engravings of China's conquest of Turkestan, 1757. This pamphlet was produced by the Musée Gimet in 1969. With the pamphlet are photocopies of an article by Paul Pelliot from T'oung Pao, Vol XX, 1921 also describing the engravings; photocopies of portions of the book 'Guiseppe Castiglione: A Jesuit Painter at the Court of the Chinese Emperors' by Cecile and Michel Beurdeley, translated by Michael Bullock, published by Lund Humphries, 1971 again describing the engravings; a copy of Chapter 6 from the 'Peintres Jésuites en Chine au XVIII Siècle' by Michel Beurdeley; the article 'The introduction of copper-engraving into China' by Hartmut Walverens copied from the 62nd IFLA General Conference Proceedings, 1996; a copy of 'East Asian arts: Painting and pictorial arts' downloaded from Britannica, 2002; and further handwritten and typed notes on the material.
• Photocopy of the section from 'A Directory of Rare Books and Special Collections in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland' edited by Moelwyn J Williams (Library Association, 1985) containing information about the Society's collections.
• 'The Storey Collection' - a document by Francois de Blois concerning the types of books bequeathed by Professor C.A. Storey, typed, 2 pieces, dated January 1995.
• 'Sorting Chinese and Japanese Materials at the RAS Library' by Iside Carbone - an article about the Chinese and Japanese books in the collections. Typed, 12 pieces, dated 21 May 2003.
• Siolta 2023, the annual publication of the Irish Society of Botanical Artists with illustrations provided by the Society from its collection of the Transactions of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 28, 1929, to accompany the article 'Clare Emma Whitty (1883-1950) and the flora of central Korea' by Charles Nelson.

Material concerned with the photographic collections held by the Society:

• List of the photographs within the Aurel Stein collections and the expeditions with which they were associated. Typed, 2 pieces, undated.
• 'Report on two rolls of film from the archives of the Royal Asiatic Society 10/12/98' by Ken Walton and Stuart Laidlaw describing the contents (Reginald Campbell Thompson's excavation in Nineveh) and the type and condition of the film. With this is a letter from J.E. Reade, British Museum, dated 18 February 1999, also giving details of the film, and an article sent by Ken Walton on the excavation.
• Programme for the visit to the Royal Asiatic Society by the Courtauld Institute of Art Summer School at which the photographs of Ajanta, Amaravati and Sanchi were investigated. The visit took place on 31 July 2008.
• Article and covering letter from Akiyoshi Tani, University of Tokyo, in which the Howell Collection of photographs were featured. The letter is dated 27 August 2013.
• Copy of the Hokkaido News, 7 December 2016 which carries an article about the Howell Collection of photographs.

The Papers of Thomas Manning were acquired by the Society in 2015 but before this acquisition the Society received enquiries as to where his Papers might be. Since the acquisition the papers have been the subject of both research and engagement. This is reflected in this subseries:

• Copy of a 'Report on the MSS etc. of T. Manning' by Edward B. Harris, dated 21 February 1900. This document lists papers in a box given to Harris on 31 January for his assessment. The copy of the list was provided by Mike Manning in 2016, 17 pieces.
• Script of Travellers' Tales, John Gielgud as Thomas Manning in 'A journey through Tibet, 1811-1812', first recorded 14 July 1966 and transmitted on 16 August 1966 on BBC Home Service. This copy was sent to the Society by Mike Manning in 2016, 10 pieces. A recording of the programme can be heard on our Digital Library: https://royalasiaticcollections.org/sir-john-gielgud-reading-thomas-mannings-narrative-of-his-travels-in-tibet/.
• Correspondence between Charles Bawden and Diana Crawford, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, concerning the whereabouts of the papers of Thomas Manning. Typed and handwritten, 5 pieces, dated 7 September 1972 - 16 October 1972.
• Correspondence between Mary Bellhouse and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning material for her biography of Thomas Manning. Typed and handwritten, 14 pieces, dated 22 January 1997 - 23 March 2013.
• 'First Englishman in Lhasa: intimate letters reveal story of unsung explorer' by Jason Burke, published in Guardian online 13 October 2015. Downloaded article, 3 pieces.
• National Heritage Memorial Fund Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended March 2016, containing the article, 'The lost papers of Thomas Manning'. The NHMF provided significant funding for the purchase of the papers.
• The Times Literary Supplement, 29 April 2016, containing the article 'After the fashion of their country: Thomas Manning and the early British study of China' by Edward Weech, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, and Nancy Charley, Royal Asiatic Society Archivist.
• China Daily, 2 August 2017, with the article 'Archive to shed light on Briton's Chinese adventure' by Cecily Liu concerning the acquisition of the Manning papers.
• 'Ancestry of Thomas Manning' - biographical details provided by Mike Manning. Typed, 2 pages, dated September 2017.
• Genealogical tree of the Manning family. Copy of a tree created by Deborah Manning.
• The Charles Lamb Society Programme 2017-18 detailing the talk 'travelling Romanticism: Thomas Manning in England, France and China' delivered by Edward Weech, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian on 14 October 2017 at the Society's premises.
• Copy of the article 'All the beauties of the Road: Thomas Manning's Romantic Visions, from the Lakes to Tibet, 1799-1812' by Edward Weech, published in The Charles Lamb Bulletin, Spring 2018.
• Programme for the Paris Symposium: Exiles, Emigrés and Expatriates in Romantic-Era paris and London, 12-13 April 2018 at which Edward Weech delivered the paper, 'Paris to a stranger is a desert full of knaves & whores - like London: Thomas Manning's Romantic Europe, 1802-1815'.
• Programme for The Friends of Coleridge Biennial Summer Conference, 6 - 9 August 2018 with abstract for the paper. 'Far beyond Coleridge or any man in the power of impressing: Thomas Manning and the Coleridge Circle', delivered by Edward Weech, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian.
• Lineage and Legacy: Thomas Manning and the Early British Study of China, 1800-1830' by Edward Weech, copy of the thesis submitted for the degree of PhD at the centre of Culture, Literary and Post-Colonial Studies, SOAS, University of London, 2020.
• Copy of 'Slow Boat to China' by Robert Bickers - a review of Chinese Dreams in Romantic England: The Life and Times of Thomas Manning by Edward Weech, Manchester University Press 2022. Review taken from Literary Review, March 2023.
• Publicity Posters for talks given by Edward Weech concerning Thomas Manning at the Institute of History and Philology Academia Sinica, Hunan university of Science and Technology, and Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong. Three pieces, dated 2023.

Correspondence and articles concerning the Papers of Richard Francis Burton which became part of the Collections in the 1920s following the death of Oscar Eckenstein:

• Correspondence between C.E. Whitting and the Society concerning the Burton collection. Typed, 4 pieces, dated 20-21 June 1972.
• 'Burton and his Peers' - an article from Country Life, 18 October 1973, concerning the sesquicentenary exhibition of the Royal Asiatic Society at the Victoria and Albert Museum but focussing on Richard Burton. Printed, 1 piece.
• Correspondence between Mary Lovell, Bernadette Rivett and Michael Pollock, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, concerning the listing of the Burton Collection (Papers and Printed material). Typed and photocopied, 25 pieces, dated 13 July 1996 - 5 May 2000.

Correspondence and information concerning the Papers of Henry Creswicke Rawlinson. These papers were donated in the 1970s. They have not yet been catalogued but a comprehensive list can be found on our website: https://royalasiaticsociety.org/list-of-the-ras-collections-of-sir-henry-creswicke-rawlinson-bart-1810-1895/.

• Correspondence between Gordon Waterfield and Miss Wade, Lord Methuen's estate, concerning the Rawlinson Papers in the archives at Corsham Court. Typed and handwritten, 7 letters, dated 28 May 1963 - 9 September 1964.
• Correspondence concerning the deposit of Rawlinson archives at the National Army Museum and the transfer of archives from St Anthony's College to the Royal Asiatic Society. Typed and handwritten, 2 pieces, dated 6 December 1972- 21 January 1973.
• Correspondence between Helen Sandeman and Godfrey Goodwin, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, concerning the listing of the Rawlinson papers and transcription of some letters. The list and transcriptions are with the correspondence. Typed and handwritten, 52 pieces, dated 1 February 1989 - 12 February 1990.
• Correspondence from Lesley Adkins to Michael Pollock, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, to send a copy of the article, 'Dokumente zur Entzifferung der Altpersischen Keilschrift Durch H.C. Rawlinson' from Persica, Vol.7, 1975-8. The article is with this letter. A further letter to enquire again about the collections. Typed and copied, 10 pieces, letters dated 13 November 2002 - 13 April 2003.
• 'A Brief Description of the Collection of Rawlinson Papers at the Royal Asiatic Society' - a copy of the article written by Roger Parsons, Royal Asiatic Society Volunteer, and published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 25, Issue 3, July 2015. Typed, 13 pieces.
• 'NOTES ON SIGNIFICANT NAMES REFERRED TO IN THE RAWLINSON PAPERS' - biographical notes. Electronic document created in 2012, archival document created in 2025.

Most of the Society's objects were dispersed to other collections at an early stage of its history. However a few remain. Information about them is:

• Suit of armour - correspondence about a suit of Asian armour within its collections and the likely provenance. Typed and handwritten, 9 pieces, dated 6 December 1930 - M may 1932 (see RAS COLL8/5 for more information about its conservation).
• Notes on an Arabic Celestial Globe and a Phoenician tombstone - both transferred to the British Museum, Typed, 1 piece, undated.
• Correspondence between Professor J. Ryckmans and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning South Arabian inscriptions within the collections. Typed and handwritten, 20 pieces, dated 19 July 1977 - 17 February 1978.
• The Council Room Table - two articles: 'The New Council Room Table' by Alison Ohta extracted from a Society newsletter, unknown date; and 'The Jhansi Table', article originally written 3 October 2012, archival document created in 2025.
• Bookmarks for 'Statue of Zhenwu, the Dark Warrior' and 'Arrow Vase from ritual to game', objects lent to the Society but the Horniman Museum as part of the Objects in Focus project. The statue was lent in autumn 2016 and the vase in autumn 2018.
• 'Collecting Oriental and Asiatic Arms and Armour: The Activities of British and East India Company Officers,c.1800-1850' by Malcolm Mercer - a copy of the article first published in Arms and Armour, 2018. This gives background information to our suit of armour.
• Gravestone of Sir Stamford Raffles - the Society took in this gravestone in 2018. The note, 'Provenance of the Raffles gravestone donated to the Royal Asiatic Society on 11 May 2018' (created in 2018, archival document created in 2025) give details of its provenance. 'Two Tombstones, One Man' by Rosie Llewellyn Jones, an article in the Chowkidar, Autumn 2018, the publication for the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia.
• 'Information about Japanese gravestones provided by Yang Fu, 12 October 2018' - interpretation details for the inscriptions on the gravestones. Electronic document created in 2018, archival document created in 2025.
• Black and white photographs and descriptions of the copper plate inscriptions belonging to the Society on permanent loan to the British Museum.

All new researchers have to register their details before accessing the Collections. For the most part these exist only as current records and are disposed of at the end of their retention schedule. There is only one historic document that has been kept related in some way to researcher registration. This is a bound leather volume entitled "Names of Visitors to the Museum of the Royal Asiatic Society, Great Britain and Ireland, 1832". At this time the Society had in its possessions many museum objects. The majority of these have now been dispersed to other institutions.
The volume is a registration book for visitors to the Museum covering the period January 1832-January 1840 on pp.1-123, and February 1848-June 1849 on pp. 125-126. It should be noted that on the outside of the Ledger is a label which reads "Committee of Agriculture and Commerce" and on pp.151-157 is an article, "Cost of Carrying Cotton" extracted from "The Friends of India..." dated 23 July 1861. On pp. 158-159 is an extract from the Council Meeting of the Royal Asiatic Society, 16 January 1871. The other pages are hand-numbered but are blank. Leather bound volume with ruled pages, handwritten. The binding is in a fragile condition and the leather has some red rot.