É. Apor , H. Wang (ed.): Catalogue of the Collections of Sir Aurel Stein in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Comp. by John Falconer, Ágnes Kárteszi, Ágnes Kelecsényi, Lilla Russell-Smith.

Editors' Preface

ÉVA APOR - HELEN WANG Éva Apor, Head of the Oriental Collection of the Library of HAS. In the UK, Helen Wang, Curator of East Asian Money, British Museum, headed an equally experienced team. John Falconer and Lilla Russell-Smith worked on the photographic material. John Falconer, Curator of Photographs, Oriental and India Office Collections, British Library, had already completed the vast database of Sir Aurel Stein's photographic collection at the British Library. Since completing her doctorate on Dunhuang paintings, Lilla Russell-Smith has been working on the digitization of the paintings in the Stein collection at the British Museum. Also on the UK team were Tim Rogers, Dept of Western Manuscripts, Bodleian Library, Oxford, and coauthor of the Bodleian Library's Catalogue of the Papers of Sir (Marc) Aurel Stein (1862-1943), printed 1983; and Susan Whitfield, Director of the International Dunhuang Project, British Library. It has been a pleasure to work together. Respect for individual expertise and genuine enthusiasm for the project has created a very friendly and effective international team. As leaders of the Hungarian and UK teams, we would like to thank our colleagues for their commitment and total co-operation. We would also like to make a special note of thanks to Professor Gyula Wojtilla, Chairman of the Oriental Committee, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, who placed his earlier notes on the Stein collection entirely at our disposal. Initially the project aimed at producing a manuscript catalogue within three years. This was to include the manuscripts (eg correspondence, documents, cuttings) and the photographic material in the Library. Sir Aurel Stein's personal library, given to the Academy, had previously been processed and incorporated into the main catalogue of the Library. As it no longer constituted a separate collection, it was not possible to include this in our catalogue. With financial support from the British Academy and the British Museum Central Asian Curators' Group, we had made such good progress by the end of the second year that we found ourselves ahead of schedule and in a position to consider publication. The Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences agreed to publish our work with the help of the Komatsu Chiko Foundation, and the British Museum generously agreed to share the costs. We are very pleased to have achieved this publication within three years of commencing the project. The Catalogue reveals especially how the material in the Library fills the conspicuous 'holes' in the British collections. In this way, with our Catalogue and the Bodleian Catalogue, we now have the most complete inventory of Stein's extensive body of correspondence. Similarly, the c.4,500 Stein photographs in the Library of the HAS complement the c. 11,000 Stein photographs in the British Library collection. We now know that the photographs from Stein's first expedition, whose whereabouts were unknown, are in the Library of the HAS. Our principle throughout has been to parallel the existing catalogues, and keep things simple for future researchers. 10