The material within this collection comprises of correspondence and publications by and about Richard Francis Burton and his wife Isabel Burton (nee Arundell). There are also two photographs of Burton and artefacts.

Also included within this Collection are correspondence concerning the acquisition of the material by the RAS and some supplementary material regarding Oscar Eckenstein, its original collector.

An English translation of "Entwurf einer Grammatik der Herero Sprache", the work by Karl Hugo Hahn, that was supposed to be undertaken with the linguist Wilhelm Bleek. As this was not possible, due to circumstances, Hahn delivered his own version of the book to Riga in 1854. It is the first grammar of the Herero language spoken by the Herero people in Southern Africa.

The manuscript of 208 pages is heavily corrected and the translator is not identified. There is a note on a torn piece of paper which states "Presented ... Sir Bartle Frere K.G.C.B., C.S.I. by the Translator, Cape Town, January 19th 1880.

Two articles and accompanying material sent by Thomas Hervey Baber to the Royal Asiatic Society. These are:

• 'Facsimiles of three Muhammedan Gold Coins, found on the Coast of Malabar' with associated material.
• 'Copy of a Translation in the Malayalam Arayam Character with an English translation.'

'Facsimiles of three Muhammedan Gold Coins, found on the Coast of Malabar with some remarks upon them'. The three coins described were thrown up during a heavy gale on the beach at the mouth of the Balliaputtan river, five miles from Cananow on the Coast of Malabar in 1818. One of them is dated AH301 and appears to have been struck at the mint of Constantine near Cordova, the Capital of a province of the same name in Andalusia, under the reign of Abdurrahman the third. The other two are dated AH407 and bear the name of Abd ul Hussein Ali. The coins were presented to the Madras Literary Society by Thomas Hervey Baber. There are a number of papers with the facsimiles. These are:

• Letter from Thomas Hervey Baber to Mr Anderson, Acting Secretary of the Madras Literary Society, dated 25 November 1818.
• A list of the Moorish Kings of Andalusia.
• A list of Khalifs. An extract from the Arabic Dictionary entitled 'Kamood'.
• Facsimiles of the coins.
• A letter from J. Stokes containing remarks on the coins.
• Facsimiles of the coins with Malayalam translations of the inscriptions.
• A letter from Mr Anderson acknowledging receipt of the coins.

All these items and their descriptions are listed in the handwritten Catalogue of English Manuscripts in the Royal Asiatic Society. However there is also further material within the file:

• Facsimiles of the coins with English translations of the inscriptions
• A list of the names of the Princes of the Dynasty of a Fatimites
• Original label identifying their listing in the Catalogue of English Manuscripts.

Copy of a Translation in the Malayalam Arayam Character with an English translation undertaken by Thomas Hervey Baber, of an extract in the Malayalam Arabi character from a manuscript in the 'possession of Ali Raja Beebee (Bibi) of Cananoor, (Kannur,) a principality on the Malabar Coast, 10 Miles North of Tellicherry'. The manuscript was believed to trace the origin of the Bibi's family. With the introductory statement are both the English and the Malayalam translations.

George Grenville Malet undertook the translation of Mahomed Masoom's A History of Sind. The History, which covers the period from A.D. 710 to A.D. 1590, was written in Persian at the end of the sixteenth century. Malet undertook the translation when he was Resident at Khairpur (Khyrpoor) with the assistance of Peer Mahomed, Residency Munshi. The translation was published in Mumbai in 1855, but these papers contain a handwritten manuscript of both the translation and the documentation and correspondence connected to the translation. The translation has been copied by a number of different hands. The signatures of these copyists appear at the end of their section.

With the manuscript is a letter from East India House to the Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, to inform that the Court of Directors of the East India Company were sending to the Society a copy of the Translation and an 'Abstract Translation of a Copper Plate...for a grant of land in Bundlecund. This translation is not with the papers. The letter is dated 6 December 1849.

The Papers of Angus C. Graham include material pertaining to both book and article publications, to reviews written and to his translation, poetry and short story work. It includes correspondence with other academics in his field and with some poets. There is material pertaining to appointments that he has held and conferences attended, notebooks, diaries and a single photograph. There is also a considerable volume of others' articles and some material concerning others' academic appointments.

In the course of his research, Graham made notes, both in notebooks and on loose sheets of paper. These were generally concerned with his interests in philosophy, experiencing life and language study.

Notes on research into Chinese language. Some of these are unordered.

Retranslating the Translation by Angus Graham. Photocopies, typescript and handwritten original poems and their multiple translations produced by 8 students during a seminar led by Angus Graham in the autumn of 1972. With the poems is a description of the exercise and the student list.