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• Letter from Samuel Phillips, Honorary Secretary, Assyrian Excavation Fund, to Richard Clarke, Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, to ask whether the enclosed circular concerning the aims of the Assyrian Excavation Fund might be sent to all the members of the Royal Asiatic Society. Handwritten, dated 16 November 1953.
• "Assyrian Excavation Fund: Society for Exploring the Ruins of Assyria and Babylonia with Especial Reference to Biblical Illustration". Printed list of the Committee and a letter to invite attendance at a meeting concerning the discoveries made by M. Botta, Mr. Layard and Colonel Rawlinson to be held in the Town Hall, Manchester, on 27 May 1854. The letter is dated 22 May 1854.
• Letter from Henry Ellis, principal librarian at the British Museum, to Samuel Phillips concerning the draft of a proposal from the King of Prussia to the Assyrian Fund Society (Assyrian Excavation Fund) which also asks whether the Authorities of the British Museum might give full authority to remove to England any such pieces of Sculpture not needed for their own collection. He reminds Phillips of a letter he wrote in 1852 to Colonel Rawlinson, concerning the position of the Trustees of the British Museum and their willingness to accept any Sculpture not deemed as necessary by the Society. Handwritten, dated 7 June 1854.

The papers of Professor T.W. Rhys Davids consist of two certificates. These are:

• Certificate of Thanks for 18 years service as Secretary of Royal Asiatic Society. This is undated but Rhys Davids completed his 18 years, serving as both Secretary and Librarian, in 1905. The certificate is signed by Lord Reay and has the names of the Society's Members below.
• Certificate for Philosophy Doctorate at the University of Wratislaviensis (Breslau) with attached seal, signed by Richard Roepell, 1882. With the certificate are 4 additional paper copies.

There is a single item within these fonds presented to the Royal Asiatic Society by James Caulfeild at the same time as presenting a copy of the manuscript, Pṛthvīrāja-rāsau, to the Society. It is the "Contents of the History of Prithee Raja" (Pṛthvīrāja-rāsau), the poems of Chand. In the document Caulfeild provides a translation of a chapter as a specimen, a sketch of the contents of all the chapters and a list of the thirty-two sciences which none but the most famed for wisdom were supposed to be masters. This is a handwritten document on foolscap paper, 23 pages, 44 sides.

Four rubbings of the inscription on the Nestorian (Xi'an) Stele, China. This Tang Chinese stele, erected in 781, documents 150 years of early Christianity in China. It is a limestone block 279 centimetres (9 ft 2 in) high with text in both Chinese and Syriac describing the existence of Christian communities in several cities in northern China. The four rubbings are of:

• Heading - 40 x 40 cm
• Facing front side - 200 x 90 cm
• Left side thickness of the stone - 200 x 30 cm
• Right side thickness of the stone - 200 x 30 cm

With the rubbings is an explanation of them sent by Jacob Ghazarian.

13 sheets of ink rubbings of inscriptions of steles in Chinese dating to the Han dynasty, many of which are illegible. Among the identified ones there are two sheets of rubbings of the memorial stele for Kong Jun (漢孔君碑), the 19th generation descendent of Kong Qiu, Confucius, erected in the year of 155; one sheet of rubbing of the Shi Chen Stele (史晨碑) erected in 169; and one sheet of rubbing of the Ritual Vessels Stele (禮器碑) erected in 156. These steles are now held at the Temple of Confucius, Qufu, China.

Sketch indicating multiple routes in red ink between the hilly villages of Adjuntah (Ajanta) and Lackenwarrie (Lakhanwada) in the Maharashtra state, India, with references of all routes on the left of the sketch. Annotation in ink near the heading reads ‘M. Lo. Schoofflnsign H. M. 67th foot’.

Drawn on a scale of 2 miles to 1 inch. Mounted on linen with red border. Measures 94 cm wide x 33 cm high.

This archive consists of correspondence, documentation, reports and allied material concerned with the conservation of the Collections of the Society. The Society has not kept comprehensive records throughout its history. Further information pertaining to the conservation of the collections may be found in the Minutes for the meetings of the Council and Library Committees. Conservation continues in the life of the Society. More recent records are held in the Society's records management system and will be transferred to the archive in due course.