Evidencing a vibrant scholarly community, this three-volume collection (published 1797-1800) will appeal to readers interested in eighteenth-century oriental scholarship.

Inside the World's Major East Asian Collections examines the rise of the "LAM,” an acronym that stands for libraries, archives and museums. In doing so, this book profiles leading experts-librarians, archivists and museum curators-who specialise in East Asian collections from across the world. In examining the dynamically shifting role of the cultural institution in the context of managing information and collections, this book provides important themes offered by these cultural experts in understanding the necessary professional skills, knowledge and personalities that are required for working in such environments of varying size, scope and composition in LAMs. As galleries, LAMs manage preservation and access of history and culture, and their missions and goals as cultural institutions continue to converge. As collecting institutions, LAMs share the common mandate to preserve and make accessible primary resources valuable for researchers and professionals, as well as the public. LAMs are mostly publicly funded, publicly accountable institutions collecting cultural heritage materials. Another aim of this book is to enhance the visibility and recognise the efforts of the LAM professionals as cultural institution leaders, since much of their great contributions in the respective fields to preserving our cultural and documentary heritages have gone unnoticed outside their parent institutions.

This is the first comprehensive and in-depth study of the Chinese collection in the Library of Congress, the largest collection of its kind in the Western world. Started in 1869 with some 950 books received in the first exhange of publications between the United States and China, the collection has grown so steadily that in 1977 it numbered more than 430,000 volumes, including 2,000 rare Chinese items, some of which were printed in A.D. 975. In this primarily historical study, Professor Hu examines the social, cultural, and political forces that led to the development and growth of the collection, the acquisitions policies followed, and the sources of personal and financial support found within and outside the Library of Congress. He also explores the methods by which the library has built up several strong areas in the collection, particularly those of Chinese gazetteers, or local histories; ts’ung-shu, or collections of reprints; and rare works.

Volume 2 of Inside Major East Asian Library Collections in North America presents an extensive collection of interviews that give key insights into Chinese, Korean, and Asian American librarianship