440 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [August, 1910. 



1 9 



W 



No. 9860 : — A Collection of miscellaneous Papers and Letters 

 relative to the Portuguese Jesuit Missions in Japan and the East 

 Indies ; of various dates, from 1593 to 1686. Partly Spanish, 

 partly Portuguese. Folio. 



No. 9861: — " Historia de Ethiopia a alta, ou Abassia, 

 imperio do Abexim, cujo Bey vulgarmente hecha mado 

 [Read : he chamado] Preste Joam ; composta pelo Padre Manoel 

 de Almeida da Companhia de Jesus, natural de Viseu. 

 Folio. 1 



Below the above entries are the words : — Presented by 

 William Marsden, Esq. 



Mr. P. was anxious to know how Marsden became 

 possessed of these papers, many of which appear to be originals. 

 In many cases they bear the original seals and the addresses, so 

 that one can see exactly how they were originally folded up and 

 fastened, when despatched. He examined carefully A brief 

 Memoir of the Life and Writings of the late William Marsden, 

 D.C.L., F.R.S., cfcc, <fcc, written by himself : with notes from his 

 correspondence, London, 1838 ; but, no reference is found in it 

 to these MSS. 



W. Marsden, born in 1754, was appointed writer to the 

 E. I. Co., and landed at Fort Marlborough, Bencoolen, May 

 30, 1771. He returned to England in 1779, having spent all 

 his time abroad in Sumatra. In 1785, he and his brother, who 

 had also been in the service of the E. I. Co., opened an East 

 India Agency business in London. Ten years later, William was 

 appointed 2nd Secretary to the Admiralty, 1st Secretary in 1804, 

 withdrawing from the service in 1807. In 1823, he joined in 

 founding tiie Asiatic Society, London. He busied himself much 

 with Indian coins and collecting Oriental Dictionaries and 

 Grammars. On p. 171 of his Memoir, he mentions for the first 

 time his collection of books and Eastern MSS., and adds : ' ' The 

 nature of this collection had already been made known by the 

 publication of my Catalogue in the year 1827." Marsden died 

 in 1836. The year before, he had presented the whole of 

 his collection to King's College, London, where it is still 

 kept apart under the title of ct The Marsden Library." 

 Why he made an exception in the case of the ten volumes 

 of MSS. now in the British Museum, Mr. P. could not dis- 

 cover, even though he referred the matter to King's College. 

 It may be remarked that they are not entered in his Catalogue 

 of books and MSS. published in 1827. They appear in the 



? ? 



1660. Cf. also Fath 

 Paris, 1864, No. 990. 



mmervogel, S.J., op. cit.. Vol. I, Coll. 193-194, mentions 

 .t the British Museum. The work appeared at Coimbra in 



