A series of discourses on Muslim doctrine and ethics, said at its beginning to be the Kalām of Murtada (Murtaza) Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib which has been translated from a Persian rendering of the original Arabic into a dialect of "Western Hindustani" in a variety of the Khojki Sindh script. This information is obtained from a typed note which has been pasted into the volume and signed by Lionel David Barnett, dated March 1931.
Talib Ali ibn Abi kalifCorrespondence sent from Mr J. de la Valette to Horace Geoffrey Quaritch Wales regarding photographs and replica of a Siamese lion. These are:
- Letter from Mr John de la Valette to Horace Geoffrey Quaritch Wales to send him 20 photographs of a Siamese lion, which he would also send by separate post. These had been given him by the then Siamese minister but the India Society did not seem to want to act upon them. He was therefore sending them to Quaritch Wales with the accompanying correspondence concerning them. Typed, dated 27 June 1936.
- Letter from Phra Bahiddha Mukara, Secretary of the Siamese Legation, to Mr John de la Valette to send him a list of the photographs of articles found at Nagor Patham, and to give a rough translation of the letter received from the Royal Institute concerning the black marble lion. He also sends a translation of the description of Nagor Pathom. Typed, dated 12 September 1932. The lists and description of Nagor Patham are with the letter.
- Letter from John de la Valette to Mr Wilkinson concerning the photographs of Nagor Pathom monastery in Siam and a replica of a stone lion. He is sending the photographs, descriptions and replica with his letter. Typed, dated 23 September 1932.
- Letter from John de la Valette to Dr Barnett, British Museum, to ask his opinion of the enclosed photographs. Handwritten, dated 4 October 1932.
- Handwritten note to suggest that the object is a clothes weight, either Chinese or of Chinese influence, from Bramholtz of the British Museum.
- Letter from Dr. L.D. Barnett, British Museum, to John de la Valette to thank him for showing the photographs and to give some information regarding the inscriptions. Typed, dated 10 October 1932.
An imperfect copy of the Puthen Pana or the Misiha Charitham of Johann Ernst Hanxelden. A letter inserted into the book, dated 26 January 1934, sent from L.D. Barnett to Mrs Cardew, identifies the volume and dates it as 18th century. The Puthen Pana is a poem written by Hanxleden about the life of Jesus Christ. On the front papers there is a note to state that the manuscript was given to the Society by Sir Alexander Johnston and that it is in Malayalam.
The poem consists of 14 padams. The first padam informs readers that the poem is written at the request of Antonio Pimental, Archbishop of Cranganore. The second padam focuses on the Fall of Man, fourth - the Annunciation, fifth - the Nativity, seventh - the Sermon on the Mount, tenth - the Last Supper, eleventh - the Trial and Crucifixion, the twelfth padam portrays the lament of Virgin Mary at the Crucifixion and Death of Jesus, thirteenth - the Resurrection, and the fourteenth portrays the Ascension. The 12th padam is considered the most important in the poem. But for the 12th, which is written in the metre, Nathonatha, the rest of the couplets are written in the metre, Sarpini.
Some of the pages are fragile and a few have had historic conservation repairs.
Hanxleden Johann Ernst 1681-1732