Maps at the British Library

Here is one small hint re: the Maps Reading Room in the British Library. The types of available maps are quite mind-boggling, and you will want to spend the rest of your life in this room, just looking at maps. However, eventually you will be forced to leave, and you will probably wish to take copies of some maps with you. Unfortunately, photocopying/photo-reproducing maps at the BL is incredibly expensive. Even if you have a very generous grant, you will feel very poor the instant you place an order for a photo reproduction. And, even if you could afford it, you will not be allowed to copy any of the maps from the King's collection (Shelfmark Maps K.Top.115.5., for instance). So, what I found was that the Maps Reading Room was great for looking, but not so great for buying.

Although it is not ideal, you can often find scans of these same maps on the web. Some are printable, some are not, but here are a couple links to get you started.

• India Maps in the David Rumsey Map Collection.
• Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection.
• Digital South Asia Library, Imperial Gazetteer of India.
• Roots Web Historical Maps of India.
• South Asia Maps.

Also, don't forget to check out the catalogue for special collections and maps at your home institution. While there are indeed a lot of maps in the British Library, it is likely that at least some of them are also available at home. Don't waste precious time looking at things you can see before/after your research trip!

Royal Asiatic Society--Finding Aids

The RAS has a nice collection of Persian manuscripts, so if you can't find want you want in the British Library, you might want to look here:

• Codrington, O. "Catalogue of the Arabic, Persian, Hindustani and Turkish manuscripts." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (July 1892): 501-569.

• Morley, W. H. A descriptive catalogue of the historical manuscripts in Arabic and Persian languages, preserved in the library of the Royal Asiatic Society. London 1854.

If you're looking for some of the source material for Tod's Annals and Antiquities of Rajast'han or the Central and Western Rajpoot States of India, start here. Particularly pleased to find documents in Sanskrit/Rajasthani relating to the Kachchawahas. Also includes some calendrical and astronomical treatises.

• Barnett, L.D. "Catalogue of the Tod collection of Indian manuscripts." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, II (1940): 129-178.

If you're looking for visual resources, you can investigate the Colebrooke, Doyle, Mackenzie, Ram Raz, Tod and other collections:

• Head, Raymond. Catalogue of paintings, engravings and busts in the collection of the Royal Asiatic Society. London: RAS, 1991.

• Robinson, B.W. Persian paintings in the collection of the Royal Asiatic Society. London: RAS, 1998.

Other catalogues available for RAS:

• Catalogue of printed books, published before 1932, in the library of the Royal Asiatic Society. London: RAS, 1940.

• Cowell, E.B. and Eggeling, J.B. "Catalogue of Buddhist Sanskrit manuscripts in the possession of the Royal Asiatic Society." Journal of the RAS (1876): 1-52 [Hodgson collection].

• Filliozat, J. "Survey of the Pali manuscript collection in the Royal Asiatic Society." Journal of the RAS, series 3, no. 9 (i) (1999): 35-76.

• Ricklefs, M.C. and Voorhoeve, P. Indonesian manuscripts in Britain. Oxford University Press, 1977. [Malay and Javanese MSS].

• Wenzel, H. "List of Tibetan manuscripts and printed books in the Library of the Royal Asiatic Society." Journal of the RAS (July 1892): 570-579.

• Winternitz, M.A. A catalogue of the South Indian Sanskrit manuscripts, especially those of the Whish collection, belonging to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. London: RAS, 1902.

British Library Shelfmarks

It can be helpful to know some of the shelfmarks for the British Library. Unlike the Library of Congress system, the BL marks books according to location (although some shelfmarks also indicate type of source, like ZA...ZK=periodical). You can plan your day better if you are familiar with some offsite shelfmarks, since those materials take longer to be delivered to the reading rooms.

1. Items that have shelfmarks with the prefixes listed below are available on the open access shelves of the listed reading room:

HLL, HLR, etc Humanities - Floor 1
HUL, HUR, etc Humanities - Floor 2
HUS Humanities - Floor 2 (Sound Archive)
MSL, MSS, etc Manuscripts Reading Room
MUS Rare Books and Music Reading Room (Music)
OI Oriental and India Office Collections
OPL, etc Social Sciences
RAR, RAX, etc Rare Books and Music Reading Room (Rare Books)

2. Newspaper Shelfmarks.

Shelfmarks of items held by the Newspaper Library are preceded by NL or NPL. These titles may be read only in the Newspaper Library Reading Room in Colindale, North London.

3. All material with the shelfmark DSC is held at the Document Supply service, Boston Spa. They take 24-48 hours to reach the Reading Rooms at St Pancras.

4. Science shelfmarks for books begin with (B) – e.g. (B) 004.6. Items from 2003 to date with these shelfmarks will be on open access

5. The 'Maps' shelfmark is self-explanatory. 'Maps OSD' refers to Ordnance Surveyors' Drawings. Maps.K.Top. indicates Maps from the King's Collection (that's what those books are in the transparent central tower of the library).

6. Some Historic shelfmarks (indicating original owner of material) at the BL:

Shelfmark range: 1.a.1. - 304.k.23.
Former owner: King George III (1738-1820)

657.a.1. - 666.a.69.
Sir Richard Colt Hoare (1758-1838)

669.f.3. - 669.f.27.
George Thomason (d. 1666)

671.a.1. - 688.l.9.
Revd Clayton M Cracherode (1730-1799)

Ashley.1. - Ashley.5711.
Thomas James Wise (1859-1937)

B.1. - B.746.
Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820)

Burney.1a. - Burney.1001b.
Revd Charles Burney (1757-1817)

C.1.a.1. - C.16.i.16.
King George III (1738-1830)

Dex.1. - Dex.316.
John Furber Dexter (1847-1917)

E.1. - E.1938.; E.2103. - E.2143.; E.2255. - E.2271.
George Thomason (d. 1666)

Eve.a.1. - Eve.c.29.
John Evelyn (1620-1706)

File.1. - File.849.
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

G.1. - G.20240.
Thomas Grenville (1755-1846)

Voyn.1. - Voyn.137.
Wilfred Michael Voynich (1865-1930)

Finding Aids for India Office Maps, British Library

1. Catalogue of manuscript and printed reports, field books, memoirs, maps, etc., of the Indian Surveys, deposited in the map room of the India Office. (London : W.H. Allen & Co., 1878.)

Shelfmark:
Maps 212.a.5.
Maps 7.b.65.

2. A Catalogue of Manuscript and Printed Reports, Field Books, Memoirs, Maps ... of the Indian Surveys deposited in the Map Room of the India Office. (pp. xxi. 672. W. H. Allen & Co.: London, 1878.)

Shelfmark:
11901.h.40.
W 4280
W 3879

3. A catalogue of maps, etc. of India and other parts of Asia / (London : Sold [for H.M.S.O.] by W.H. Allen, 1874.)

Shelfmark:
V 9765

4. Great Britain. India Office. A catalogue of maps, etc. of India and other parts of Asia / (London : [India Office] : Sold by W.H. Allen, 1876.)

Shelfmark:
V 9777

5. Great Britain. India Office. A catalogue of maps of the British possessions in India and other parts of Asia / (London : [H.M.S.O.] : Sold by W.H. Allen, 1870.)

Shelfmark:
V 9778

6. India Office Records A catalogue of maps, plans &c. of India and Burma and other parts of Asia / (London : [s.n.] : Arnold [distributor], 1891.)

Shelfmark:
W 4938(b)
W 4521

7. India Office. Registry and Record Dept. Catalogue of maps, plans, etc. of India : appendices, no. 43-[90]. (London : India Office, 1903-1916.)

Shelfmark:
Maps 64.b.54.

8. Survey of India. Survey of India map catalogue 1931 : extracts showing the holdings of the India Office Records, Map Room. (London : British Library, 1977.)

Shelfmark:
Maps 216.b.61.

Royal Institute of British Architects Library

From the RIBA Library site:

August closure 2008

The Reading Room at Portland Place will close at 5pm on Friday 1 August and re-open on Thursday 4 September at 10am. The 75 year old cork floor is undergoing refurbishment. The Library will continue to answer enquiries by telephone, email, fax or letter during this period. "

Regular Library opening times:

Monday: closed
Tuesday: 10am-8pm
Wednesday - Friday: 10am-5pm
Saturday: 10am-1.30pm
Sunday: closed

Members of the public can now access the RIBA Library at 66 Portland Place, London free of charge for reference purposes.

Access to non RIBA members is now free on production of proof of identity; e.g. driving licence, passport, student ID card.

Rajasthan State Archives

A descriptive list of the Partapgarh Mahkmakhas, English record, 1800 to 1950 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1994).

A descriptive list of the Chief Commissioner Office, Ajmer, General Branch, 1948 to 1952 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1994).

A list of Bundi English record, 1901 to 1946-47 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1993).

A descriptive list of the Chief Commissioner Office, Ajmer, General Branch. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 199u).

A list of Bundi English record, 1901 to 1946-47 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1993).

A descriptive list of the Partapgarh Mahkmakhas English record, 1800 to 1950 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 199u).

Jodhapura rājya patra vyavahāra. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rājasthāna Rājya Abhilekhāgāra, 1986).

Udayapura rājya kī Kiśanagaṛha, Koṭā, Bādhogaṛha (Rīvāṃ), evaṃ Bīkānera se prāpta kharītoṃ kī vivaraṇātmaka sūcī, saṃvat 1896-1950. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rājasthāna Rājya Abhilekhāgāra, 1989).

A descriptive list of the Bikaner Mahkmakhas, English record, Army Department, 1914-1947 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1989).

A list of English records of Mahakmakhas, Jaisalmer, 1891 to 1950 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1984).

A list of the English record of the Jodhpur Mahakmakhas. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1984).

A descriptive list of the arzdashts (Persian) addressed by the various officials to the rulers of Jaipur, 1707 to 1720 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1986).

Koṭā-Būndī Rājya ke kharītoṃ kī vivaraṇātmaka sūcī, Vi. Saṃvat 1771 to 2000. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rājasthāna Rājya Abhilekhāgāra, 1987).

Jayapura arjadāśta, Rājasthānī by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rājasthāna Rājya Abhilekhāgāra, 1981).

Kharītā, rājakīya-patra-vyavahāra, Gvāliyara-Jayapura, Bīkānera-Jayapura, evaṃ Karaulī-Jayapura by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rājasthāna Rājya Abhilekhāgāra, 1977).

A descriptive list of Bikaner bahis from 17th to 19th century. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1982).

A list of the English records of the Ajmer Commissioner, 1818-1899. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1980).

A descriptive list of the arzdashts (Persian) addressed by the various officials to the rulers of Jaipur, 1658-1707. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1981).

A descriptive list of the Bikaner Mahkmakhas, English record, 1896-1914. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1980).

A descriptive list of the arzdashtas addressed to the rulers of Jaipur (Rajasthani). by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, Govt. of Rajasthan, 1978).

A descriptive list of the khatoot ahalkaran (Rajasthani), 1633 to 1769 A.D. by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, Govt. of Rajasthan, 1975).

Rajasthan State Archives by Rajasthan State Archives. (Rajasthan State Archives, 1976).

A descriptive list of the vakil reports addressed to the rulers of Jaipur. by Rajasthan State Archives. (1967).

A descriptive list of farmans, manshurs by Rajasthan State Archives. (1962).

Government Archives in India

It sounds completely ridiculous to recommend a research guide published in 1969, but I've found it to be really useful, so here it is:

D. A. Low, J. C. Iltis and M. D. Wainwright, eds., Government Archives in South Asia: A Guide to National and State Archives in Ceylon, India and Pakistan (London, Cambridge U.P., 1969).

This book is a good starting point for major archives in India. It's obviously out of date in some cases, but it has been helpful as a prompt for asking questions. For instance, I can write a letter stating, "One of my sources indicates that records from the Finance Department, 1810-50 (Pre-Mutiny Series) are housed in the National Archives in Delhi. Do you know if that collection is still held in Delhi? If it has been relocated, could you kindly provide information as to its new location?" Perhaps unsurprisingly, many collections haven't moved around a lot since 1969, and even if they have, knowing the provenance of the collection can might help track it down now.