Collections : [C.V. Starr East Asian Library]

The Coins and Paper Currency of Tibet collection of the C.V. Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University comprises a small representative sample of historical coinage and paper currency circulating in Tibet and contiguous areas in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The core items in this collection originally belonged to the Kyaping family, who lived in the heart of Lhasa until the final occupation by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) in 1959. It is noteworthy that the family's holdings included coins minted in Sichuan as well as Nepal, as well as paper currency printed in Tibet. The bulk of the collection was probably issued from approximately 1870 through 1940.

The Tharchin Collection consists primarily of correspondence, publications and drafts, photographs, daybooks and financial accounts, and autobiographical materials. The geographic coverage of the collection spans both sides of the Himalayas, in particular, the activities of intellectuals, officials, missionaries, and other historical figures in India, Sikkim, and Tibet.

This collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, notes, articles, books, ephemera, postcards and black-and-white photographs. Correspondence in Series 1 includes letters from Henri Bergson, Benedetto Croce, F. C. S. Schiller, Arthur Waley and Kimura Hideo, dated 1912-1938. Manuscripts in Series 2 include drafts of Mason's published and unpublished works, as well as letters, contracts, advertisements and notes related to his publications and lectures. Subject files in Series 3 include notes written by Mason and quotes and articles collected by him on various topics in Eastern religions and philosophies. This series also includes miscellaneous notes, "Obras Publicadas," a list of Mason's publications. Photographs in Series 5 and postcards in Series 6 were taken or collected during Mason's stay in Japan in the 1930s (see Related Materials).

The Ephemera collection on Chinese science, technology, law, and society (中国科技法律社会汇集) contains over 800 items published in China, dating from circa 1906 to 2010, with its bulk dating from 1931 to 1981. Materials include pamphlets, handbooks, picture books, posters, lantern slides, literacy flash cards, etc. The subject areas of the materials include science, technology, agriculture, personal hygiene, economy, culture, law, society, and politics, etc. The collection also includes works that reflected social, political, industrial transformation in China.

This Japanese photograph and postcard collection is composed of five different groups: photographs and postcards collected by Samuel McCune Lindsay (Series 1); photographs and postcards collected by J. W. T. Mason (Series 2); photographs donated by Katharine Becke (Series 3); Japanese Subjugation of Rehe Sheng (China) "Public Relations Photographs" (Series 4); and other postcards and photographs (Series 5). The majority of items were created and/or collected during the 1930s in Japan; however, the collection includes items created throughout the twentieth century as well as originating in neighboring countries such as China and Korea.