COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Original Tibetan Studies manuscripts at Columbia University are primarily in three locations: the C.V. Starr East Asian Library (Special Collections), the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and the Burke Library.
C.V. Starr East Asian Library (Special Collections)
17th Century
Official Document from Reign Period of the Fifth Dalai Lama, by Sde srid Blo bzang sbyin pa (1678)
18th Century
Decree by the Seventh Dalai Lama (1723)
Nine Documents from Ladakh
19th Century
Includes seal imprints of 144 noble families and monasteries
20th Century
Documents and publications related to various political campaigns in Lhasa, Tibet, prior to and during the Cultural Revolution. Translations are available for several documents.
Assorted papers of Gegen Dorje Tharchin (1890-1976), founding editor of the Tibet Mirror Press in Kalimpong, India, including subscription lists, financial accounts, correspondence, photos of family and prominent figures, draft publications, etc., and an online version of the Tibet Mirror.
Records from the London headquarters office of the news and research service founded by Robert Barnett and Nick Howen in 1988, including administrative files, TIN publications, and research files on social and poitical conditions in Tibetan regions of the People's Republic of China, primarily from 1989-2001. In process.
Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML)
Tibetan ms. 1
Bhadrakalpika Sutra = Bskal pa bzang po’i mdo
Leaves 1-282? (end) (3 leaves missing)
Handwritten and illuminated in color.
c. 15th century?
The illustrations, two on the verso of each leaf, represent what are said to be “one thousand Buddhas,” though clearly the number actually present is much less than that.
(Tibetan ms. 3 in this collection is another copy of the same text, in a different hand.)
Silver ink on black-washed paper; some red and gold (on p. 150?)
Tibetan ms. 2 (housed with MS 3)
Karmasataka = Las brgya tham pa ba
2 leaves, including title
Handwritten, illustrated in color
c. 15th century?
Tibetan ms. 3 (housed with MS 2)
Bhadrakalpika Sutra = Bskal pa bzang po’i mdo
Leaves numbered 57-276, 4 missing from this range
Handwritten and illustrated in color
c. 15th century?
Silver ink on black-washed paper
The illustrations are said to be “one thousand Buddhas,” although in fact the number present is clearly much less. Tibetan ms. In this collection is an apparently more complete copy of the same text, in a different hand.
Tibetan ms. 4
Life of Gshen-rab (Bon-po)
Leaves numbered 1-306, some missing; approx. 8.5” x 26.5” (needs verifying?)
Handwritten, illuminated in color
c. 15th century?
Gshen-rab was the legendary founder of Bon-po, the shamanistic native religion of Tibet. After Buddhism and the art of writing were introduced (7th century) athe Bon preists created their own literature largely on Buddhist models. The illustrations of the present manuscript are in a style going back to the 11th-12th centuries but the orthography is clearly much la
Tibetan ms. 5
Klu ‘bum (Bon po)
33 leaves, in the range 92-163 of volume 2 plus 226 of v. 3
c. 15th century?
Bon-po is the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet. After the introduction of Buddhism and the art of writing (7th century), Bon generated its own literature largely on Buddhist models; this item and ms. 4 are from theis tradition.
Remarks (LH): Good condition. Silver ink on black-washed paper.
Tibetan ms. 6
Lotus sutra = Dam chos padma dkar po’i mdo
255 leaves, numbered in range 2-275
Handwritten
c. 15th century?
This purports to be the Lotus Sutra, one of the most famous texts of Mahayana Buddhism. Until it is examined though we cannot exclude the possibility that it is really a Bon-po imitation (?) given that it was found interleaved with two Bon-po texts (see mss 4, 5)
Remarks (LH): Good condition. Silver ink on black-washed paper. Also some gold ink.
Burke Library
Note: For additional Tibetan rare book holdings at Columbia University, please contact the Tibetan Studies Librarian, Dr. Lauran Hartley: lh2112@columbia.edu, phone: 212-854-9875.
NEWARK MUSEUM
Valrae Reynolds, Amy Heller, Janet Gyatso. 1986. Catalogue of the Tibetan Collection.
Reynolds, Valrae 1991. Discoveries about Tibetan manuscripts in the Newark Museum. Hand Papermaking 6 (2) 20-23.
SEE ALSO:
Christianity in China: A Scholars' Guide to Resources in the Libraries and ..., by Xiaoxin Wu
He states: "The Newark Museum’s Tibetan Archive was founded with material obtained from Albert L. Shelton, MD of the Disciples of Chirst Foreign Christian Missionary Society, active in the Sino Tibetan border region, from 1904-1922. It also includes materials from Ekvall, Holton, Griebenow, and the Christian Missionary Alliance. Specifically:
See the entry for “The Newark Museum” in:
A survey of tibetan xylographs and manuscripts in institutions and private collections in the USA and Canada / Horace I Poleman, 1961. (see Catalogs)
Xiaoxin Wu's book also mentions the following collections, all of which contain Tibetan materials:
San Jose Christian College Archives
Claremont College
Paul Stevenson Papers, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Archives of the Billy Graham Center Wheaton IL