Shaping the Stein collection’s Dunhuang corpus (2): the items from Cave 17’s ‘miscellaneous’ bundles

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In a previous blog post , we looked at the instrumental role played by Wang Yuanlu during the selection of the items from the Cave 17. Wang, who directly chose from the small repository what to hand over to Stein for inspection, was very keen to divert his attention from the so-called ‘regular’ bundles, which were composed for the most part of Buddhist sutras in Chinese and Tibetan. During their first ever transaction, which took place between 21 May and 6 June 1907, Wang Yuanlu therefore began by handing over the ‘miscellaneous’ bundles, which he seemed to hold in low estimation. To Stein’s delight, these contained mixed and diverse materials, such as manuscripts in non-Chinese languages, illustrated scrolls, paintings, drawings, ex-votos, textiles, etc. Stein picked out any of the items that jumped at him as being particularly interesting and made sure to put them aside for ‘further examination’, the phrase that he used to refer to their removal in his transaction with Wang. This ...
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A Few of Our Favourite Things: #2 Agnes Kelecsényi and Kinga Dévényi

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As part of IDP's 20th anniversary celebrations we have asked twenty of our friends and supporters to select their favourite item from the IDP collections. The full selection will form an online catalogue and will be featured in the spring and autumn 2014 editions of IDP News

Agnes Kelecsényi (left) and Kinga Dévényi (right) are curators in the Oriental Collection of the Library and Information Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest, where Stein’s bequest is preserved. They have been strongly involved in disseminating knowledge about this collection including various digitisation and cataloguing projects with IDP. Their chosen item is Aurel Stein's manuscript of the Sand-buried Ruins of Khotan.

Detail from Stein's Ms of the Sand-buried Ruins of Khotan, 653/1-2.

Agnes Kelecsényi and Kinga Dévényi write:

The two volume manuscript, bound in brown leather, consists of two parts: The text of the Preliminary Note in Stein’s pagination Vol.1.:434 ff. and Vol. 2.: 435-812 ff. completed in London, 6 February 1903. At the end of the manuscript two parts are inserted from his diary written during his return journey to Europe: Osh, 8 June 1901 (13 ff.); and Samarkand, 15 June 1901 (6 ff.).

This manuscript was donated to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences by Stein as a part of his first donation of books to the Academy of his native land.

It is our favourite item because his neat handwriting and scarce amendments reflect his scholarly way of composing and his well disciplined character. While the dried flowers put among the leaves of the manuscript, and which are from the Mohand Marg, his mountain retreat in Kashmir, are a sign of his tender heart, love of nature, and spirituality.

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