The Royal Asiatic Society leased the premises at 56 Queen Anne Street from 1947 to 1988. The papers include official lease documents, sub-letting agreements, correspondence, plans and photographs.
Sans titreIn 1973 the Royal Asiatic Society celebrated its Sesquicentenary (150 years). The archival material includes Planning committee administration; material connected with the various events held, exhibitions put on and publications produced in celebration of the occasion; and material concerned with fundraising for the Society.
Sans titreThe records of the Gold Medal cover the institution of the medal and the conferment of the Honour in subsequent years. They include examples of the medal, the original Declaration of Trust, and subsequent printed version of the declaration, correspondence and newspaper cuttings. However there are not records for all instances of the presentation of the Medal. Researchers are advised to also examine the Council Minutes and the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (both held in the RAS Collections) when researching concerning the Gold Medal and its recipients.
Sans titreCorrespondence and official documentation concerned with International Congresses of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences and the association of the Royal Asiatic Society with the Congresses.
Sans titreThe International Congress of Orientalists, initiated in Paris in 1873, was an international conference of Orientalists. It was later renamed as the International Congress of Human Sciences in Asia and North Africa and then as the International Congress of Asian and North African Studies. This material covers the interaction of the Royal Asiatic Society with the Congress in the time period 1889 to 1993.
Sans titreMaterial produced by, or concerned with, the Royal Anthropological institute. These are:
- "Suggestions for a School of Applied Anthropology" by Sir Richard C. Temple. Report from "Man, No.102, 1913" of a discussion on the practical application of anthropological teaching in universities held in "Section H of the British Association, at Birmingham, Friday September 12th, 1913". There are also reports on statements by others including Mr T.C. Hodson, Secretary of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Printed material.
- Letter of invitation to the President, Royal Asiatic Society to be present at the conference convened by the "Joint Committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland" to be held on 19 February 1914. With the letter is also a "Memorandum of Proceedings". Printed material with handwritten inserts, letter dated 15 January 1914.
- Letter from W.B. Fagg, Hon. Secretary, Joint Committee, Royal Anthropological Institute, to the Royal Asiatic Society to inform them that their quinquennial revision of membership is overdue and to ask them to appoint a representative to serve on the committee from 1943 to 1947. They inform that the previous representative was R.E. Enthoven. Typed, dated 14 July 1943.
Material concerned with the Royal Society for Asian Affairs (originally the Central Asian Society) and its interaction with the Royal Asiatic Society.
Sans titreCorrespondence concerning the future of the Horniman Museum. These are:
- Letter from Brian Durrans, Deputy Keeper, Museum of Mankind, to Sir Cyril Philips, Royal Asiatic Society, to ask if the Society would consider adding its voice to the other bodies in a letter expressing concern regarding the fate of the Horniman Museum. He notes that the Society's Otto Samson lecture links it to the Horniman Museum where Samson was a curator. Typed with printed letterhead, dated 15 February 1988. With this letter is a copy of the letter to be sent to the Secretary of State, dated 15 February 1988.
- Letter from Brian Durrans, Deputy Keeper, Museum of Mankind, to Sir Cyril Philips, Royal Asiatic Society, to ask for a copy of the letter that Philips sent to the Secretary of State. Typed with printed letterhead, dated 26 February 1988.
- Card from the Department of Education & Science to Cyril Philips, Royal Asiatic Society, to acknowledge receipt of his letter. Typed with printed letterhead, dated 17 March 1988.
- Letter from Robert Jackson, Department of Education & Science, to Cyril Philips, Royal Asiatic Society, to state that the government is committed to securing the future of the Horniman and Geffrye Museums. Typed with printed letterhead, dated 8 April 1988.
Throughout its history the Royal Asiatic Society has made links with various universities. Perhaps most notable is that with the School of Oriental Studies (Now School of African and Oriental Studies), University of London, for which the Royal Asiatic Society had a representative on the Governing Body for many years. Material in these papers includes connections between the Royal Asiatic Society and the School for Oriental Studies, the University of Catania, Sicily, the Université Libre de Bruxelles, the University of Hong Kong, and the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford.
Sans titreMaterial concerned with the Asiatic Society (formerly Asiatic Society of Bengal) and their interaction with the Royal Asiatic Society.
Sans titre