É. Apor , H. Wang (ed.): Supplement to the 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.

Preface

PREFACE The Catalogue of the Collections of Sir Aurel Stein in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences appeared in 2002, jointly published by the British Museum and the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. It was launched to international representatives of the profession at the British Museum Study Day "Sir Aurel Stein and Central Asia" in London on 23 March 2002 and at the Stein Memorial Session "Stein Aurél Emlékülés" in Budapest on 14 May 2002. The Catalogue has produced genuine appreciation for our institution as well as for the authors. We could not, however, rest on our oars for long: in late 2003 we eliminated the last of our "frozen stock" as part of the new storage project of the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. As a result, a considerable quantity of Stein-related material came to light. This new material contains more than two thousand photos, letters, prints, separates, cuts, and original maps drawn by Stein. It is very vivid material and we set ourselves to processing it with urgency. The Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (Taipei) is the primary supporter of our work, having offered a significant part of the necessary financial resources. We were also successful in our application to the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund, and the grant obtained represented the second part of the financial resources. Luckily, we were able to reform the same team that produced the Catalogue'. John Falconer (British Library), Lilla Russell-Smith (Circle of Inner Asian Art) and Helen Wang (British Museum) on the British side, and Agnes Kelecsényi and Agnes Kárteszi, my associates in the Oriental Collection at the Library. Each one of us tried to tit this new task into our already set agenda of work. I am delighted that the Supplement to the Catalogue of the Collections of Sir Aurel Stein in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences was completed in less than three years, thus completing the cataloguing of all the materials related to Stein in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and making them accessible to researchers. 7