Showing 70 results

With the Covid pandemic, some lectures became virtual events. Zoom recordings were made for the following lectures:

• 13 July 2020: Jonathan Bloom, 'Architecture of the Islamic West'.
• 17 August 2020: Professor Sarah Ansari, 'Boundaries of Belonging'.
• 26 August 2020: Diana Darke, 'Stealing from the Saracens'.

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 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.

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.

Documentation concerned with Conferences, Symposia and Study days held by, or at, the Royal Asiatic Society. These include some events held in collaboration with other organisations, held either at the Society's premises or at other locations. Most of the early material can be found the Minutes of the Committees, the Oriental Congress catalogues and the catalogues for significant anniversaries. At present the material in this catalogue dates from the 1980s.

Publicity material for lectures and book launches in the period 2000-2010:

2003-2004

• 13 November 2003: Notice that the lecture, 'The Universe in Miniature: Tombs in Ancient China' by Professor Jessica Rawson, would be held at the Society of Antiquaries.

  2004-2005

• 9 June 2005: Tim Mackintosh-Smith, 'The Hall of a Thousand Columns: Hindustan to Malabar with Ibn Battutah'. Various documents: Advertising leaflet, 2 copies; Book of tickets for the event, 1 printed book; administrative correspondence between the Royal Asiatic Society, The British-Yemeni Society, The Embassy of the Republic of Yemen, The Royal Geographical Society, and Clarence House, 11 pieces.

  2005-2006
  Notice of the April and May lectures for 2006:

• 6 April, the Dr Greville Freeman-Grenville Memorial Lecture by Professor Ulrike Freitag, 'Linking East Africa and the Middle East: Networks of Commerce and Culture;

• 10 May, Dr Ali Ansari, 'Persia in the World Imagination'.

  2006-2007
  Publicity posters for Student Series lectures:

• 12 December 2006: Chris Howard, 'Screening of "Gohatto" (Taboo) Japan, 1999, Director: Nagisa Oshima'.
• 16 January 2007: Mark Strange: 'Sima Guang on 4th Century Chinese foreign Policy'.

• 24 April 2007: Dr. Sophie Gordon, 'Visions of Asia: Photographs from the Royal Photograph Collection'.

  2007-2008
  Publicity posters for Lectures:

• 11 October 2007: Dr Kate Teltscher, 'The Scotsman, the Lama and the Gosain: the First British Expedition to Tibet 1774-5'.
• 8 November 2007: Professor Ebba Koch, 'Jahangir as Sir Francis Bacon's ideal of the king as an observer and investigator of nature'.
• 13 March 2008: François de Blois - the Professor Mary Boyce Memorial Lecture, 'Professor Mary Boyce and the Quest for Zoroaster'.
• 10 April 2008: Professor Shail Mayaram, 'James Tod and the trajectory of Indian nationalism: an assessment after two centuries'.

• 12 June 2008: Professor Zeren Tanindi, 'Illustrated and Illuminated Works of Mevlana Jalal ad-Din Rumi'.

  Publicity posters for Student Series lectures:

• 25 October 2007: Abhishek Amar, 'Foundations of Buddhism: Investigating Bodhgaya and other Buddhist Monastic sites in Early Historic Gaya'; and Malini Roy, 'Provincial Mughal painting at the court of Nawab Shuja ud-Daula of Awadh (r.1754-75) and Asaf ud-Daula (r.1775-97)'.
• 15 November: Shino Ariswana, Keiko Kitamura, Michael Coxall, 'Sankyoku: Lyrical Music from the Edo period'. With the poster is a programme of the music played.
• 6 December 2007: Wing-Fai Leung introduces the film, 'Comrades, almost a Love Story' directed by Peter Chan, 1996.
• 17 January 2008: Benedetta Lomi, 'Bato Kannon: the Japanese Transformation of an Esoteric Deity'; and Tullio Lobetti, 'Memories of the Flesh: Body and Ascetic Practices in Contemporary Japanese Religious Contexts'.
• 21 February 2008: Bulat Tynybekov and Botagoz Tynybekova in a 'Concert: Kazakh Classical Music'. With the poster is the programme of music, biographies of the performers and an entrance ticket.
• 27 February 2008: Jonathan Black and Brenda Martin, 'Dora Gordine: Sculptor, Artist, Designer', book launch.

• 19 June 2008: the film, 'The Warrior, India', directed by Asaf Kapadia, 2001.

  2008-2009
  Publicity posters for Lectures:

• 9 October 2008: Dr Ravinder Kaur, 'On Distinctions: Citizens, Refugees and Post-Colonial State in India's Partition'.
• 11 December 2008: Professor Edhem Eldem, 'The Ottoman Culture of Death: A Vision of Modernity and Change'.
• 12 March 2009: Professor Timon Screech, 'Power and Magic in the City Planning of Edo (Tokyo) 1590-1657'.

• 16 April 2009: Professor Huw Bowen, the Professor Cyril Philips Memorial Lecture, 'C.H. Philips and the East India Company'.

  Publicity posters for Student Series lectures:

• 20 November 2008: Joint meeting with the Royal Society for Asian Affairs - Peter Cole, 'Exploring a Local Identity in Yemen'; Hannah Warren, 'Female Weavers in a Village in Madya Pradesh, North India: A Photographic Study'; and Dr Alasdair Pinkerton, 'Radio and the Raj: Broadcasting in British India'.
• 10 December 2008: Film, 'The Angry Monk', Director Luc Schaedler, 2005.

• 18 March 2009: Scheherazaad Cooper, 'Odissi - Indian Classical Dance', dance and talk.

  Publicity posters for Book Launch:

• 12 November 2008: John O. Hunwick, Alida Jay Boye, and Joseph Hunwick, 'The Hidden Treasures of Timbuktu: Historic City of Islamic Africa', 2 copies.

  2009-2010
  Publicity posters for Lectures:

• 8 October 2009: Dr Andrew Peacock, 'End of Empires: the Turkish Conquest of the Middle East, 11th Century AD'.
• 11 February 2010: Professor Owen Wright, 'How French is Frenkçin?'.

• 15 April 2010: Dr Laura J. Newby, 'The Chinese Emperor's New Copper Plates: Art and Politics in the Late 18th Century'.

  Publicity posters for Student Series lectures:

• 21 April 2010: Tara Mayer, 'Clothing the Imperial Image: Dress, Identity and Authority in later 18th to early 19th Century North India'; and Amanda Phillips, 'Ottoman Velvets and Imitations: Viral Style in the 17th and 18th Centuries'.

  Book Launches:

• 7 July 2010: Invitation to the launch of 'Muhammad Juki's Shahnamah of Firdausi' by Barbara Brend, printed card, 2 copies.

Publicity material for lectures and book launches in the period 2000-2010. Much of this material is held in digital format.

Photographs from: 12 November 2008: Book launch for 'The Hidden Treasures of Timbuktu: Historic City of Islamic Africa' by Alida Jay Boye and John O. Hunwick, 6 images. 17 March 2010: Student Lecture Series, Kiku Day, a concert of the Shakuhachi (Japanese Bamboo Flute), 8 images.

Drafts of papers delivered at General Meetings of the Society. These are:

• 'Translation of a Chinese Inscription found on a Rock at Kulangsu (Gulangyu)' by George Tradescant Lay, read at the General Meeting, 15 November 1845, 14 pages + paper wrapper.
• Paper on the cultivation of cotton and sugar by William McClelland, read 7 November 1846, with accompanying letter from W. Corgill, dated 18 May 1846, 17 pages.
• Notes on the progress of the native printing press in India, with reference to a list of periodicals and other works printed at the presses of Delhi and Bareilly with the list and translation by John Dowson. Read By H.H. Wilson, 2 December 1848, 23 pages.
• Notes on the Ruins at Gwalior by Lieutenant Thomas Briggs, read 20 November 1852 when Briggs showed a volume of drawings of the architecture of the temples visited by him at Gwalior and Badami, 8 pages + paper wrapper.
• Paper relating to the use by the Chinese government of the Chinese word for barbarian, read by Edwin Norris from documents communicated by the Foreign Office, 4 December 1852, 13 pieces + paper wrapper.
• Notes on the low caste Mangs of Kolhapoor (Kolhapur); an extract of a report by Lieutenant C. Barr, dated 1 January 1852. This was communicated by Colonel Sykes and read 4th June 1853, printed 10 pages.
• Extracts from letters received from Colonel Henry Rawlinson concerning the kings cited in an inscription. Two pieces, undated but probably dating to 1852-4 when the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society read several such extracts at the General Meetings.
• Description of the Drawings of Buddha and a Pagoda, presented to the Society by the First King of Siam (Thailand) on 23 July 1857. The original description is dated 26 May 1854. The paper was read by the President, H.H. Wilson, at the meeting of 2 January 1858, 8 pages.
• Paper entitled 'A Sketch of Buddhist mythology as represented in Chinese sheet-tract' read by Joseph Edkins, 22 January 1859, 7 pages.
• Papers relating to the inscriptions on two swords given to the Queen by the widow of Major Hodson, but displayed at the Royal Asiatic Society on 6 April 1861, 5 pieces.

Correspondence concerning, and drafts of papers read at, General Meetings. Lists of lecture dates for 1865 and 1868.