G. Orosz (comp.): A Catalogue of the Tibetan Manuscripts and Block Prints in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Vol. 1.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 1. The history of the collection The present work is a detailed description of the Tibetan collection of the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. This collection can roughly be divided into two parts: the 36 Tibetan books belonging to the bequest of Alexander Csorna de Körös (ca. 1784-1842), and a much larger unit, comprising approximately 500 block prints and more than 2000 MSS, acquired mainly in Mongolia. The bequest of Alexander Csorna de Kőrös came into the possession of the Library in 1887 by the favour of his first biographer, Theodore Duka (18251908), who, at the end of his life, donated the material used for the compilation of Csoma's biography, along with his own publications, to the Academy. This bequest consists mostly of Csoma's correspondence and documents related to his works, as well as those 36 Tibetan books which have formerly been in Csoma's possession. Duka acquired these books from Salamon Ceasar Malan (1812-1894), the former secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, who was taught Tibetan by Csoma in Calcutta. In 1842, before Csoma's last fatal journey to Daijeeling, he gave all of his Tibetan books to Malan. The first erudite survey on the Csoma-bequest was made by L. Ligeti (19021987) who noticed the existence of some booklets which had been compiled personally for Csoma by his Tibetan teachers 1. These booklets, commonly called as "Alexander-books", were published in a facsimile edition in 1976 2. Two complete descriptions of the Csoma collection were also published 3. 1 Louis Ligeti, "Ouvrages tibétains rédigés á l'usage de Csoma", T'oung Pao, XXX, 1933, pp. 26-36. " J. Térjék, ed., Tibetan Compendia written for Csoma de Koros [sic] by the Lamas of Zahs-dkar. Manuscripts in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (= Satapitaka series, Indo-Asian Literatures, 231). New Delhi: Society of Csoma de Koros [.s/'c] and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1976. 3 Jules Louis Nagy, Tibetan Books and Manuscripts of Alexander Csoma de Kőrös. (= Bibliotheca Orientális Hungarica, 5; Dissertationes Sodalium Instituti Asiae Interioris, I). Budapest: 1942. J. Teijék, Collection of Tibetan MSS and Xylographs of Alexander XIII
