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The Royal Asiatic Society moved into the premises, 14 Grafton Street, in 1824 and remained there until 1848. Unfortunately no original archival material remains dating from this time, but there are historic photographs, plans of the premises and some accumulated research notes among the material connected to 14 Grafton Street.

The O.W. Samson Award was set up in memory of Dr Otto William Samson, ethnographer and curator of the Horniman Museum. His wife, Elizabeth Samson, donated £10,000 to the Royal Asiatic Society with the wish that the annual income from the invested money be used to either enable a scholar to pursue their research in the fields of anthropology or archaeology relating to Asia; or to enable the Society to mount a study group or seminar on some aspect of these fields. In its initial years the award helped to fund a publication following the Islamic Fundamentalist Conference and 'The legacy of the House of Timur' Seminar. In 1992 it was awarded to Richard Rudgley, St Cross College, Oxford, to visit the rural areas of Xinjiang to document surviving traditional technology, and in 1993 to Lilla Russell-Smith to research Chinese Buddhist painting at Dunhuang.

The material related to this award includes initial correspondence, administrative documents, advertising leaflet, and later correspondence including the news of Elizabeth Samson's death.

The Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka was incorporated soon after its foundation as an affiliated society to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. This material covers some of the interaction between the two societies. These are:

• "The 125th Anniversary of The Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch)" by P.R. Sittampalam, Honorary Secretary - photocopy of an article from the Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
• Letter from Kunst and Wissen, Germany, to the Royal Asiatic Society to ask the address of the publishers of the the Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Typed, dated 16 April 1970.
• Letter from F. Sprangers, Belguim, to Royal Asiatic Society asking for a sample issue of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch). Handwritten, dated August 1974. Also the reply from Royal Asiatic Society to give address of the Ceylon Branch. Typed, dated 9 September 1974.
• Letter from Audrey Meenan, Serials Department, British Library, to Miss Crawford, Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, to ask for confirmation of the address of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Typed, dated 24 July 1976.
• Letter from Wilfred M. Gunasekara, Honorary Joint Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society (Sri Lanka Branch), to the President, Royal Asiatic Society, to thank for the donation of the book, "The Royal Asiatic Society - Its History and Treasures". Typed, dated 25 September 1980.
• Letter from Faxon to the Royal Asiatic Society to ask concerning the address of the Royal Asiatic Society, Sri Lanka Branch. Typed, dated 16 December 1983.
• Letter from Wilfred M. Gunasekara, Honorary Joint Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society (Sri Lanka Branch), to the Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, to ask for a copy of the letter of incorporation of the Ceylon Branch. Typed, dated 13 January 1985. With this is a copy of the reply to state that no letter is in existence and also the Minutes books are temporarily in store while the Society's buildings are being renovated. Handwritten, dated 31 January 1985.
• Letters expressing concern regarding the possible new incorporation of the Royal Asiatic Society (Sri Lanka Branch) with the Royal Asiatic Society from H. W. Weeraratne, dated 16 November 1985; Harold Weevaratne, dated 21 November 1985; and H.W. Weeraratne, dated 9 December 1985.
• Letter from the Honorary President, Royal Asiatic Society Sri Lanka Branch, to the Honorary Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, to inform that the incorporation will entail the name of the Society becoming the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka. Typed, dated 22 January 1986.
• Letter from the Honorary Joint Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, to the Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, to inform of the dispatch of two publications as complimentary copies for the Royal Asiatic Society. Typed, dated 20 June 1990.
• Correspondence between Michael Pollock, Librarian, Royal Asiatic Society, and Dr Somapala Jayawardhana, Honorary Joint Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, concerning copies of the Journal of Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka for the Royal Asiatic Society's Collections. Nine letters, typed, dated from 18 May 1992 - 7 September 1993. Also 4 postcards of receipt.
• Correspondence between Michael Pollock, Librarian, Royal Asiatic Society, and B.E. Wijesuriya, Administrative Assistant for the Honorary Treasurer, Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, concerning obtaining copies of the Sesquicentennial Commemorative Volume of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka. Two letters, typed, dated 25 April - 30 May 1995. With these letters is a printed pamphlet advertising the Commemorative Volume.
• Letter from Michael Pollock, Librarian, Royal Asiatic Society, to G.P.S.H. de Silva, Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, to inform of the death of Professor Charles Fraser Beckingham, who was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka. Typed, dated 12 November 1998.
• Correspondence concerning the visit of Mr R. Wijedasa of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka to the Royal Asiatic Society. Four letters, typed, dated 18 May 2003 - 30 July 2003.

Established as the Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society, in 1857, the Society became affiliated to the Royal Asiatic Society the following year, becoming the Royal Asiatic Society (North China Branch). This material was collated in the interaction of the two Societies; the closure of the North China Branch and subsequent questions regarding it closure; and in its reopening and re-establishing links with the Royal Asiatic Society.

The Royal Asiatic Society Medal was instigated in 2000 to replace the Society's Triennial Gold Medal and to be awarded in recognition of an outstanding contribution to scholarship in the field of Asian Studies. A new design for the Medal was sought and this was commissioned from Danuta Solowiej-Wedderburn. The medal took longstanding symbols of the Society and gave them a modern twist. She suggested:

'The starting point for the design of the medal was an article by John Hansman in the Society's Journal of 1984: ‘The Emblems, Medals and Medallists of The Royal Asiatic Society’. I was very inspired by the Daniells’ design of a caparisoned elephant for a signet, first produced in 1824, which was used to seal letters and documents. A simplified version of this design by Professor Perceval Yetts has become the ‘logo’ of the society, stamped on its letter head and on all its publications, and so it was a particularly appropriate image to use. I depicted the signet impressed into the brass as if it were wax, to act as a metaphor for the medal as a ‘seal of approval’. Unlike most Victorian award medals the lettering is incised, this is so that it will blend in with the name of the recipient, which obviously has to be engraved at a later date. In 1823 the Banyan tree was chosen for the society’s official seal by the Council and it has been depicted on previous medals commissioned by the society. It is a magnificent tree and an apt symbol of the society, growing strong and branching out. The medal was cast (rather than struck) which allows for more depth in modelling and I tried to take advantage of that by depicting the tree as a mature and vigorous plant, still growing strongly.' (Email, see details in the catalogue).

The medal was first awarded to John Gullick in 2001 with subsequent awards being made:
2003 – Professor Edmund Bosworth
2006 – Professor Christopher Shackle
2009 – Professor Sir Christopher Bayly
2014 – Dr Bridget Allchin and Professor David Bivar
2019 - Professors Carole and Robert Hillenbrand
2023 – Robert Irwin

The material covered by this catalogue consists of correspondence and administrative documents concerning the setting up of the award and the commissioning of the medal, and the individual awards. There are also photographs of some of the award events and a sample of the medal.

The Society's events are mainly centred on Lectures, Conferences and Exhibitions. However, they occasionally hold other types of events either at the premises, or making visits to other locations. Archival material associated with these events are found within this catalogue.

Minutes for the General Meetings held by the Society for its Members to attend. At these meetings, new members would be admitted, donations presented, and Papers or letters read on Asiatic topics. The Minutes have been accumulated into bound volumes covering the time span from 1823-2011.

The signed Minutes and associated correspondence of the Meetings of the Royal Asiatic Society's Events and House Committee.

Since its inception the Royal Asiatic Society has encouraged the dissemination of Asian studies through the delivering of papers and lectures. These, particularly throughout the early history, were part of the General Meetings and recorded in the Minutes of the General Meetings (RAS LEC1). The material in this catalogue concerns the administration and publicity of papers, lectures and book launches given for the Society.

The Royal Asiatic Society has, from time-to time, mounted exhibitions of its collections, at its own premises or other exhibition spaces. Several of the major ones of these were associated with the major anniversaries of the Society. The material for those exhibitions can be found in the anniversary catalogues.

However in the late 1980s and early 1990s the Society held regular small exhibitions on its premises. The programmes for these can be found within this catalogue along with other exhibitions not associated with anniversaries.