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The Society, in its history, has lent various of its collections to institutions on long term loans either because of specialist care needs of the items or because of a particular interest in the collections by the lending institution. The material in this series is the correspondence and documentation connected with these long term loans.

Letter from Josiah Forshall (1795–1863), Secretary British Museum, to Brian Houghton Hodgson on behalf of the Trustees of the Museum to thank Hodgson for his valuable present of a manuscript in the language of Tibet, being the Yum, part of the Prajnāpāramitā. Handwritten, 1 side, dated 15 May 1845. Additional notes in the autograph book state that Hodgson had given copies of the Prajnāpāramitā to different institutions and persons including the Royal Asiatic Society, the Bodleian Library, College of Fort-William in Calcutta (3 copies), and Eugène Burnouf at the Société Asiatique.

Letter from J Forshale, Secretary, British Museum, to Brian Houghton Hodgson in which he is directed by the Trustees to acknowledge Hodgson's letter and to express the Trustees' thanks for the series of Skins and Drawings which Hodgson has presented to the Museum with the promise of completing the series. The trustees would like to accept this offer and will instruct their Officer to go to Hodgson at Canterbury to assist him on the preparations for these specimens and those for other institutions.. However the Trustees must also express their regret that they are unable to help with the publications which Hodgson has proposed - this falls beyond the remit they consider appropriate for them. Handwritten, 1 side, dated 20 December 1844.

Material associated with loans from the Society's collections between 1991 and 2000.

• Correspondence between the British Library and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the loan of manuscripts for a photographic exhibition of Indonesian manuscripts, 'Golden Letters' to tour major towns in Indonesia. Typed and printed, 22 pieces, dated 11 December 1990 - 28 April 1994.
• Correspondence and documentation between the Asia Society, New York, the British Library, the Kunsthal, Rotterdam and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning loan of material for the exhibition, 'The Court Arts of Indonesia' which first went to the Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, and then travelled to the Netherlands. Typed, printed and photographic, 36 pieces, dated 21 October 1988 - 14 August 1992.
• Letter from Frances Wood, Curator, British Library to Dennis Duncanson, Royal Asiatic Society concerning the possible loan of a Persian manuscript for an exhibition of oriental books and manuscripts illustrating gardens. Handwritten, 1 piece, dated 19 June 1992.
• Correspondence between the National Museum, Singapore, and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the possible loan of Malay manuscripts for an exhibition to commemorate the 175th Anniversary of Sir Stamford Raffles landing in Singapore. Two pieces, typed, dated 12 October - 20 October 1992.
• Correspondence between the Musée de L'Homme, Paris, and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the possible loan of a Persian manuscript for their exhibition about Herat, Afghanistan. Typed, six pieces, dated 20 September 1995 - 24 November 1995.
• Correspondence, documentation and publicity material between the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the loan of artworks for the 'Royal Persian Paintings: The Qajar Epoch 1785-1925' which opened in 1998. This exhibition then went to the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London and there is some material associated with that exhibition also. Typed and printed, 64 pieces, dated 29 June 1995 - 6 January 1999.
• Correspondence and documentation between the British Museum, Department of Coins and Medals, and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the loan of the portrait of Alexander Cunningham for the exhibition, 'From Persepolis to the Punjab: Coins and the Exploration of the East'. Typed, printed and handwritten, 7 pieces, dated 27 March 1997 - 2 September 1977.
• Correspondence and documentation between the British Museum, Department of Ethnography, and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the loan of manuscripts for an exhibition on Sir Stamford Raffles. Typed and printed, 9 pieces, dated 27 November 1997 - 4 December 1998.
• Correspondence and documentation between the British Museum, the British Library and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the loan of items for the 'Persian and Indian Paintings Exhibition from the Royal Asiatic Society Collections' held at the British Library, June - October 1998 to mark the 175th anniversary of the Society. Typed and printed, 35 pieces, dated 20 February - 26 October 1998.
• Correspondence and publicity material between the National Galleries of Scotland and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the loan of 2 paintings for 'The Tiger and the Thistle: Tipu Sultan and the Scots in India, c.1760 -1800' Exhibition. Typed and photocopied, 9 pieces, dated 3 August 1998 - 24 August 1999.
• Correspondence regarding the possible loan of the VHS copy of the Northern Iraq film to be used in a Channel 4 series, 'Lost Worlds'. Typed and photocopied, 3 pieces, dated 13 January 1999.
• Correspondence between the American Museum of Natural History and the Royal Asiatic Society regarding the possible loan of a painting for the 'Body Art: Marks of Identity' Exhibition. Typed, 3 pieces, dated 23 February 1999.
• Correspondence and documentation between the Brecknock Museum and Art Gallery, Powys, Wales and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the loan of manuscripts for their exhibition, 'Major David Price and the East India Company. Typed and printed, 15 pieces, dated 3 August 2000 - 4 April 2001.

Material associated with loans from the Society's collections between 1970 and 1980. These are:

• Correspondence between The British Council, the Royal Asiatic Society and Luzac & Company Ltd. concerning the loan of books for the Council's exhibition, 'British Books on the Arab World'. Seven pieces, typed, dated 17 December 1970 - 23 June 1971.
• Correspondence between A. Lodge, Librarian, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, and Secretary of the South-East Asia Library Group, and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the loan of the Society's Javanese and Balinese manuscripts to Dr. Theodore Pigeaud, Netherlands, for the purpose of cataloguing them. Four pieces, typed, dated 15 March 1971 - 22 June 1971.
• Correspondence between the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal, and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the loan of manuscripts for their exhibition commemorating the 25th centenary of the Persian Empire. Seven pieces, typed and handwritten, dated 6 March 1972 - 5 May 1972.
• Correspondence between the India Office Library, London, and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the loan of the Society's manuscript, Rāmcaritmānas for an exhibition to be held the Conference Room of the India Office Library in conjunction with a conference at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. Four pieces of correspondence, typed, dated 15 January 1974 - 30 January 1974. The exhibition booklet is also with this correspondence.
• Letter from C.B.F. Walker, British Museum, to John Hansman, Royal Asiatic Society, to return two letters from the Papers of Henry Creswicke Rawlinson which he had borrowed. Typed, one piece, dated 25 January 1974.
• Correspondence between R. Borger for the Göttingen Muncipal Museum and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning loan of material from the Papers of Henry Creswicke Rawlinson for an exhibition honouring the second centenary of G.F. Grotefend, decipherer of cuneiform. Typed, 10 pieces, dated 20 February 1975 - 29 April 1975.
• Correspondence between the British Museum and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the loan of the Society's 'Sa'di's Gulistan' manuscript for the museum's exhibition, 'Islamic painting in India'. Two pieces, typed, dated 28 October 1975 - 18 December 1975.

World of Islam Festival April- June 1976
In 1976 the World of Islam Festival was staged. The Society's main contribution was the loan of manuscripts to an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, London for their exhibition, 'Arts of Islam'. However, alongside the administrative documents concerning the loans are other administrative documents, publicity material and newspaper articles:

• World of Islam Festival Trust Exhibitions Committee - amended Minutes of the First Meeting of 6 November 1973, 7 pieces, typed.
• Correspondence between the World of Islam Festival Trust, the Arts Council of Britain, the British Library and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the Society's participation in the Festival and in particular the loan of manuscripts to the exhibition. 15 pieces, typed, dated 18 September 1974 - 28 July 1976.
• Loan forms for the manuscripts lent to the Hayward Gallery. Printed forms with typewritten insertions and additional typed information, 7 pieces.
• Publicity and invitations for allied lectures and exhibitions to be held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History, the Royal Festival Hall in conjunction with the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Cairo, an International Islamic Conference at the Royal Albert Hall, the British Institute of Persian Studies, the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, the British Institute in Eastern Africa, the Royal Commonwealth Society, the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Architectural Association School of Architecture and the Royal Scottish Museum with the University of Edinburgh. 14 pieces, printed and typed.
• 'Islamic Council of Europe,' a printed leaflet explaining the objectives of the council.
• Two colour pamphlets advertising the festival. One is titled ' World of Islam Festival and the other is a copy of the Aramco world magazine, May -June 1976 dedicated to the Festival.
• Newspaper articles from The Times advertising and commenting on the Festival and wider issues connected to Islam in Britain. Printed, 6 articles, dated 21 March 1975 - 14 April 1976. Also photocopies of articles specifically commenting on the exhibition from The Times, Observer, The Illustrated London News, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Financial Times and The Sunday Times, 10 April - May 1976.

1977-1980

• Letter from John Hansman, British Institute of Persian Studies, to Charles Beckingham, President, Royal Asiatic Society, concerning the possible loan of archives and artworks for an exhibition to mark the official opening of the new British Institute of Persian Studies. Typed with handwritten annotations, 1 piece, dated 12 March 1977.
• Correspondence and loan form from the Scottish Arts Council for manuscripts lent by the Society to their Persian Miniature Paintings Exhibition at the Edinburgh Festival 1977. Printed and typed, 3 pieces, dated 1 -5 April 1977.
• Loan Agreement between Asia House Gallery, New York, and the Royal Asiatic Society for loan of the Chinese photographic album compiled by Mr Howell, 1 piece, dated 28 July 1977.
• Correspondence from the British Museum concerning the loan of the Society's Jami' al-Tawarikh manuscript for a temporary exhibition of Islamic paintings. Two pieces, typed, dated 30 June 1978 - 31 January 1979.
• Correspondence from the British Council regarding a loan of the Society's Journal to an exhibition touring in Europe. 1 piece, printed and typed, dated 4 January 1979.
• Correspondence between the British Library and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the loan, and necessary export licence required, of the Society's Persian manuscript to an exhibition at Asia House, New York. Typed, handwritten and photocopies, 12 pieces, dated 2 January 1979 - 10 February 1979.

Little specific material was kept from the early days of the Society. Most of the information concerning this time will be found in the Council Minutes. The majority of the material in this series dates from the 1930s onwards. The material is:

• A specimen loan agreement form for a manuscript between the Royal Asiatic Society, Albemarle St and some unstated recipient. The Royal Asiatic Society leased the premises at 22 Albemarle Street from 1869-1919, therefore the forms date from this period. Two copies, printed as though handwritten.
• Correspondence between Col. D.M.F. Hoysted, Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, and E.H. Johnston, Keeper, Indian Institute, Oxford concerning the loan of some terracotta sealings and inscribed stones to the Institute. Four letters and a list, handwritten and typed, dated 11 January 1937 - 12 March 1938.
• Correspondence between the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the loan of some Persian manuscripts for the museum's exhibition, 'Six Centuries of Persian Painting' organised by Basil W. Robinson. Five letters and one list, typed, dated 30 September 1966 - 22 September 1967.
• Correspondence between the Arts Council of Great Britain, London, and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the loan of the Society's copy of Rustaveli's 'The Man in the Panther Skin' for the exhibition, 'Great Britain - U.S.S.R.: an historical exhibition'. Five letters, one notice of the exhibition, all typed, plus a news cutting from the Times (13 January 1967), dated 11 January 1967 - 26 April 1967.
• Correspondence between the Stedelijk Museum, Delft, Netherlands, and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the potential loan of two manuscripts for the museum's exhibition, 'Het Prinsenhof', an exhibition of Asiatic miniatures. The loan was declined by the Society. Two letters, typed, dated 26 May 1967 - 16 June 1967.
• Correspondence between the British Museum and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the potential indefinite loan of a Kashmiri bronze of a seated Bodhisattva to the museum's collection of Indian sub-continent bronzes. The loan was declined by the Society. Four letters, handwritten and typed, dated 22 November 1967 - 1 January 1968.
• Correspondence between the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, New York, the British Museum and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the potential loan of material from both the British Museum and the RAS for an exhibition about Herat. Two letters, handwritten and typed, dated 5 January 1967(8) and 16 January 1968.
• Correspondence between Reading Museum and Art Gallery, Berkshire, England, and the Royal Asiatic Society concerning the loan of the Society's portrait of Lt. Col. William Lambton for an exhibition of the Works of William Havell taking place in February and March 1970. Six letters and one notice of loan, all typed, dated 28 October 1969 - 24 April 1970, plus a printed invitation to the private view of the Exhibition. There is further correspondence concerning the loan of the portrait again for the William Havell bicentenary in 1982. The decision was made not to include the portrait in this exhibition. Three letters, typed, dated 15 April 1981 - 17 August 1981.