Arquivo TM - Papers of Thomas Manning

The archive was acquired from Maggs Bros. Ltd., Rare Book Publishers, London, in 2015 with funding received from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) and further support from the Arts Council England/Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund; the Friends of the National Libraries; and numerous private donations.

A few items within the Papers were donated to the RAS at an earlier date.

Manning's copy of Klaproth's Description du Tubet was donated to the Society by Deborah Manning in October 2017.

The items in TM/19 were loaned by Deborah Manning in 2019.

The Papers include correspondence between Thomas Manning and his family, friends and some official correspondence ranging from his childhood, through Cambridge days, time in France, travels to China and India and his later life.These reflect both Manning's interests and the wide range of contacts that he cultivated.

There are also original notebooks and notes, some documenting his travels including his journey through Tibet; others reflecting his interests in mathematics, poetry & riddles and Catholic emancipation. There is also an early Manuscript for "The Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhasa".

Other highlights in the Collection include early English and European passports, calling cards, and later receipts

These Papers give an insight into this unique man formerly best known for his relationship with Charles Lamb. These Papers show that Manning was also a man of talent, charisma and determination in his study of China and the Chinese language.

The Collection has been arranged according to different types of material creating a number of series. These are:

• TM/1 Family Correspondence:
• TM/1/1 Correspondence with William Manning
• TM/1/2 Correspondence with Other Family Members
• TM/2 Correspondence with Early Friends:
• TM/2/1 Correspondence with Robert Lloyd
• TM/2/2 Correspondence with Charles Lamb
• TM/2/3 Correspondence with Sir George Leman Tuthill
• TM/2/4 Correspondence with W. Baines
• TM/3 Correspondence during Manning's time in France:
• TM/3/1 Official Correspondence and Documents
• TM/3/2 Personal Correspondence whilst in France
• TM/3/3 Calling Cards and Invitations
• TM/3/4 Diligence information
  *TM/4 Other Correspondence Pre-dating Manning's Time in China
• TM/5 Correspondence during Manning's Time in China and India
• TM/6 Correspondence Post Manning's Time in China
• TM/7 Correspondence with Stanislas Julien
• TM/8 Correspondence - Unknown Era
• TM/9 Notes and Notebooks:
• TM/9/1 Hardcover folder containing notes on all subjects
• TM/9/2 Notebook including notes on meeting the Dalai Lama
• TM/9/3 - TM/9/5 Chinese notebooks used during time in Tibet
• TM/9/6 Notes from Chinese period
• TM/9/7 Five pocket almanacks with annotations (1825-1833)
• TM/9/8 Poetry and Riddles
• TM/9/9 Mathematical notes and notebooks
• TM/9/10 Notes regarding Roman Catholicism
• TM/10 Manuscript of "Narrative of the Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhasa"
• TM/11 Passports and Official Documents
• TM/12 Newspaper Cuttings
• TM/13 Receipts
• TM/14 Address Labels and Calling Cards
• TM/15 Later Correspondence within Thomas Manning Archive
• TM/16 Notes regarding the Thomas Manning Archive
• TM/17 Catalogue of Manning's Books in RAS Library
• TM/18 Printed Material
• TM/19 Correspondence on loan

The RAS also holds within its Collections:

• The Latin-Chinese dictionary belonging to Thomas Manning and marked with his annotations
• A half-length portrait of Thomas Manning, oil on canvas, c.1805 by J.M. Davis
• Bust of Thomas Manning, plaster, c.1805, unknown artist.
• New material related to the acquisition of the archive and its subsequent publicity

The Chinese books bequeathed to the RAS by Thomas Manning's estate are now held at The Brotherton Library, Leeds