ISAW Library closing in on strategic collection goal in Chinese language holdings

The ISAW Library is placing a significant order of 275 Chinese titles this week. With this order we will come very close to achieving our strategic collection goal of building comprehensive holdings in the publications of the two main Chinese antiquities presses, 文物出版社 (The Cultural Relic Press) and 科学出版社 (The Science Press), from 1949-2014, with a specific focus on: archaeological reports from the Neolithic period to Tang dynasty (618-907); early Chinese paleography, history and civilization; ancient and late antique Chinese arts; and the Silk Road. Between Prof. Emma Bunker’s and Prof. David Keightley’s collections, which we accessioned over the past two years, and our own active and ongoing collection activities, the ISAW Library is poised to emerge as one of the strongest library collections in ancient Chinese studies over the next five years. We are also collaborating with the Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with the aim of ensuring systematic coverage in ancient Chinese material culture in the New York metropolitan area.

The new Chinese purchases, which are largely works from 2010-2014, such as the one pictured here, will arrive in May 2015 and be cataloged and available on the ISAW Library shelves by the end of August 2015.