Terjék József: Collection of Tibetan MSS and Xylographs of Alexander Csoma de Kőrös.

The History of the Collection

11 Looking through the list of books in the Collection, however, we cannot find books on the subjects dealt with in his publications. It does not include, for instance, the dictionary of Buddhist terminology, though its acquisition is mentioned in his letter of May 1825; and similarly there is no trace of the aphorism-collection, the Subhäsitaratnanidhi, etc. On the other hand his publications do not mention the books in the Collection or only mention them briefly. Consequently the Collection contains books Csoma was currently at work on. But he gave away his books in 1839 before he had completed his studies and published them. He even gave away the Alexander-books, though he must have been personally attached to hem. The fact that he did not take any Tibetan books with him on his journey to Darjeeling may lead us to think that Csoma, by presenting his Tibetan library to Malan, was no longer interested in continuing his Tibetan studies. His desire to find the native land of the Hungarians may have been aroused and he set out on his arduous journey.