SCAD: Survey on the Conservation of Asian Documents

UK collections of Asian documents

The combined holdings of UK libraries of documents originating from Asia are an incomparable and priceless research resource for scholars working in all disciplines and all areas of Asian Studies. The materials have been gathered over 400 years, and represent three thousand years of the documentation of the cultures and history of Asia and North Africa. It is vital for future generations that this heritage is preserved. For most Asian languages, particularly for historical materials and manuscripts, which are the main focus of this project, the quality, range and depth of UK collections is unsurpassed in the West.

Description and size of the collections

There are six or seven major institutions in the UK with extensive collections of Asian documents, and some 30 or so other institutions with important, but in some cases small collections of printed, manuscript and archival material. The UK has had a long connection with Asia and this is reflected in the variety of material preserved in its libraries. Geographically, coverage is comprehensive, from the Bosphorus to Japan, including North Africa, Central Asia, South and South East Asia, China and Korea. All disciplines are represented, and chronologically collections range from the earliest written record to current materials.

One of the aspects which marks collections of Asian as opposed to western documents is the diversity of materials on which text and illustrations are carried. These include papyrus, palm leaf, birch bark, bamboo, wood, ivory, bone, silk, metals, leather, parchment, as well as many different kinds of paper.

The size of UK collections of material relating to Asia (there is no reliable separate figure for documents of Asian origin) is thought to be currently approximately around three million items, with the British Library holding over 1,000,000 printed titles and 60,000 manuscripts in Asian languages, SOAS holding approximately 1,000,000 titles in all languages relating to Asia, Cambridge and Oxford each holding between 250,000 and 500,000 printed titles and major manuscript collections, along with several other collections containing well over 100,000 titles. The Wellcome Institute Library alone holds some 12,000 manuscripts in 43 different languages.

Purpose of the project

• to assess the current physical condition and storage environments of UK Asian document collections, as a first step towards formulating a preservation and conservation strategy for these collections;

• to improve our knowledge of the preservation and conservation needs of Asian documents (particularly those materials that require unusual or highly specialised handling and conservation treatment techniques, for example different inks and pigments; and different book structures and bindings from those found in western documents), and to identify where further scientific research is required;

• to share more effectively relevant specialised conservation skills both within and outside the UK;

• to disseminate these findings via a web site and report (to be mounted on the web site and available in hard copy);

• to improve access for researchers to Asian documents in the UK;

• to ensure the long-term survival of Asian documents in UK collections.

By ‘documents’ is meant anything carrying a text produced in Asia, i.e. from the Middle East & North Africa through South Asia to the Far East and South East Asia.

Impact of the project on research

This project will result in a deeper understanding of the physical nature, current condition, and appropriate treatments for a range of UK-held Asian collection materials while at the same time developing a network of conservators expert in addressing the needs of these specialised materials.

Ultimately, researchers will benefit by gaining access to previously inaccessible (due to poor or fragile condition) collections. Moreover, documents for which - at present - reproduction permission has to be refused could be appropriately repaired and then microfilmed, photographed and/or digitised so that durable surrogates can be created and widely shared. The long-term importance of a collaborative approach to conservation and preservation work for future access to Asian documents should not be underestimated.

Contact Details

Project Officer

Project website

www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/scad

Content: Gill Davenport
Last updated 5 July 2002