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Correspondence, lists and catalogues concerning the disposals of material in this period

This archive consists of lists and correspondence concerned with the disposal of items in the Collections of the Society. The Society has not kept comprehensive records throughout its history. Further information pertaining to Disposals of the Society may be found in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society and in the Minute books for the Council and General Meetings. Disposals may continue in the life of the Society. More recent ones are held in the Society's records management system and will be transferred to the archive in due course.

Correspondence, newspaper cuttings and auction catalogues concerned with the sale of The Jami'al-Tawarikh Manuscript and Mughal illustrations from the Razmnama manuscript of 1598. Due to the financial needs of the Society in this period it was decided to sell these items. The correspondence follows the debate around whether to undertake the sale, the negotiations with Sotheby's the auctioneers, the outcome of the sale and following difficulties as to whether the purchaser was going to pay for the manuscript. Only two of the Mughal illustrations reached their reserve price at the sale. The press cuttings also follow the debate and that the manuscript was leaving the country. There is a Sotheby's Preview Calendar of Sales catalogue for June-July 1980 which features the The Jami'al-Tawarikh Manuscript (also called Rashid al-Din's World History" and a further individual catalogue for the manuscript. There are 83 items within the correspondence, 19 press cuttings and 2 catalogues.