Papers of Frederick William Thomas

This diverse collection consists of F. W. Thomas' private correspondence, draft papers of unpublished and published works primarily relating to Tibetan philological study materials, Tibetan manuscript cataloguing slips, documents from his tenure as India Office Librarian, and various additional papers.

F. W. Thomas was a highly published and respected philologist, and a specialist in Tibetan language studies. Born in Staffordshire to Frederick Thomas and Frances Blainey, he studied at Trinity College, Cambridge. He graduated with first class in classical and Indian languages and was a recipient of several academic awards. In 1898 he became Assistant Librarian of the India Office, succeeding C. H. Tawney as Librarian from 1903-1927.

Thomas’ expertise in philology allowed him to contribute greatly to the cataloguing and arranging of the extensive ‘Oriental’ materials held by the India Office Library. The deposit of Sir Aurel Stein’s ‘Dunhuang’ manuscripts provided him with the opportunity to study rare Tibetan texts, many of which formed the basis for his published work Tibetan Literary Texts and Documents Concerning Chinese Turkestan, Part II (1951). He continued to publish extensively in scholarly journals and books until his death in 1956.

The papers of F. W. Thomas were a challenging collection to catalogue. Since their deposit in the India Office Library, the collection has undergone several cataloguing attempts, leaving some material arranged but a large quantity without clear order. Owing to the complex nature of the collection’s structure, it was decided that an original order should be maintained where possible when no other order was clear. For some researchers, it may be useful to understand how papers have been rearranged according to the previous reference system. As such, notes in the scope and content fields indicate the original boxes in which the papers were stored.

The contents of this collection include many unpublished manuscripts, now available in handwritten or typed form. This includes ‘The Cambridge History of India’ (unpublished, 1922-1932), ‘Bhasa-Pariccheda: Siddhanta-Muktavali and Dinakari Commentary’ (1931-1935), ‘Introduction to Tibetan Texts and Documents’ (1935-1956) and his final work, ‘The 'Zan-Zun' [Zhangzhung] Language’ (1933-1956). Alongside these texts, Mss Eur F155 contains photographic prints of texts, original rubbings of inscriptions in ink and dry media, maps, and over 2,000 folios of loose notes, transcriptions, and references. The collection is an excellent example of scholarly global collaboration, with many files showing evidence of multi-authorship by philologists from around the world.

Of additional interest may be the over 3000 folios of cataloguing slips recording descriptions, transcriptions, and some translations of Tibetan manuscripts taken during Sir Aurel Stein’s (1862-1943) second expedition, 1913–1916. Many of the manuscripts described are available to view digitally on the International Dunhuang Project catalogue page.

Maddy Clark, Digitisation Officer, India Office Records

Further reading

Papers of Frederick William Thomas (1867-1956), Mss Eur F155. A paper catalogue of the contents is available to consult in the Asian and African Studies Reading Room.

Biographical memoir for Frederick William Thomas by H.N. Randle in Proceedings of the British Academy vol. 44 (1958).

Arberry, A., & Katz, J. (2004) Thomas, Frederick William (1867–1956), orientalist. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
de La Vallée-Poussin, L., Enoki, K.(1962) Catalogue of The Tibetan Manuscripts from Tun-huang In the India Office Library. London: Oxford University Press.