Series RAS COLL5/4 - Printed Material

The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded by the eminent Sanskrit scholar Sir Henry Thomas Colebrooke on the 15th March 1823. It received its Royal Charter from King George IV on the 11th August 1824 'for the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia'. It continues as a forum for those who are interested in the languages, cultures and history of Asia to meet and exchange ideas.

First established in Lyon and then transferred to Paris in the building Émile Guimet had raised on the hill of Chaillot, the historic building on the Place d’Iéna arose from his vast project to create a museum of religions in the wake of his pivotal travels in Egypt.

Fascinated by the East and its civilisations, he assembled there his outstanding collections, notably the ones he brought back from his travels in Japan, China, and India in 1876-1877.

Paul Eugène Pelliot was a French sinologist and Orientalist best known for his explorations of Central Asia and the Silk Road regions, and for his acquisition of many important Tibetan Empire-era manuscripts and Chinese texts at the Sachu printing centre storage caves (Dunhuang), known as the Dunhuang manuscripts.

Cécile Beurdeley was an author and expert in Chinese ceramics.

François Clement de Blois is a specialist on Semitic and Iranian languages and literatures and on the history and cultures of the Near East and Central Asia in premodern times,

Iside Carbone holds a PhD from the Department of Anthropology, UCL. Her research interests focus on Chinese art and material culture in particular, and on museum ethnography as well as anthropology of art in general. Initiator of the project, Asia Collections Network (ACN), she is also co-founder and director of the non-profit association, Asia Collections Network – Europe (ACN – Europe). Iside is member of EACS (European Association for Chinese Studies), EAAA (European Association for Asian Art and Archaeology) and ACHS (Association of Critical Heritage Studies).

The Irish Society of Botanical Artists are a group of botanical artists and other people who are interested in botanical art. In May 2012, at the invitation of the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, they met together and decided to begin the process of preparing to found the Irish Society of Botanical Artists. On 1 March 2014, the Formation Meeting took place at the Visitor Centre at Glasnevin.