Library & Archive

Circumstances out of the RSAA’s control mean that the Society’s library and archive are not currently accessible for researchers.  Copies of material from the collections, unless already digitised, are also unavailable.

We ask for your understanding.  We are working hard to find a solution, but researchers should note that this situation is likely to prevail for the whole of 2025.

The RSAA Library

The RSAA’s library reflects the Society’s mission geographically and chronologically.  A digital library from which the Society’s members may borrow, will be launched in March 2025.

The RSAA’s physical library, consisting of some 7.000 volumes, has been held at Haileybury since 2016.  Changes at Haileybury in late 2024 mean that it is unfortunately not currently accessible to users.

The Hugh Leach Library is a separate collection. It was the personal library of Hugh Leach OBE, a respected soldier and diplomat. Leach was the Historian of the RSAA and the collection reflects the interests of its creator, with a particular emphasis on the Middle East.  It is also currently not accessible to users.

The RSAA Archive

The RSAA collections are similarly not currently open to researchers.  They are a unique and varied range of material from the mid-19th century to the present day including a number of personal papers, notably from the explorer Colonel Reginald Schomberg; thirty-four unpublished letters from Sir Aurel Stein; and the Shakespear family archive with their Central Asian and Indian connections.  The original decree from the Khan of Khiva releasing 416 Russian prisoners into the care of Sir Richmond Shakespear in 1840 is of particular interest.

There are over 1,000 maps in the collection covering the Middle East, Mesopotamia, the Arabian Peninsula, Transcaspia and Russia.  General Sir Samuel Browne’s own annotated map of Afghanistan used at the start of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878) is one of collection’s highlights.

The RSAA’s photographic collection contains images ranging from late-nineteenth century views of Bokhara; Sir Francis Younghusband’s expedition to Tibet (1904); St John Philby’s pictures of Mecca and Medina in the 1930s; pioneering overland car journeys to Baghdad, as well as rare photographs of Yezidi and Assyrian tribes in the twentieth century.

The Michael Stokes Postcard Collection contains over 6,000 cards of Indian scenes that would have been familiar to soldiers serving during the British Raj – cantonments, railway stations, barracks, camps, bazaars, docks, churches, church parades and cemeteries.

A small but select number of Indian miniatures include paintings from Rajputana (present day Rajasthan) and part of a Ragmala series.

Search our Catalogues

Our library and archive catalogue is available here:

Search Now

Access

It is not currently possible for researchers to visit the library or archive.  For general enquiries about the RSAA collections, please contact us:

Contact us

Adopt-a-Book

Help us to repair, conserve and develop the RSAA Library:

Donate