[INDOLOGY] help with Cabaton catalogue of Paris BnF

[Jérôme Petit]

Dear Dominik,

Curator of the South-Asian manuscript collection in Paris, I am answering
your questions below:


   1. What is the meaning of the numbering?  The first number is just a
   serial number in Cabaton's catalogue, but the Burnouf materials have a
   second number in parentheses.  What's that number? It's also sequential.

The first numbering is the BnF shelfmark, like “Sanscrit 1046”. The second
one in brackets is the numbering given during the sale of the Burnouf
collection (see below). Cabaton’s catalogues have been XML-encoded and
published on the “BnF Archives et manuscrits” website.

https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc97327n



   2. The footnote on p. 181 refers to a published list of materials in a
   fire (I can't find that publication).  Was Burnouf's collection destroyed?
   Are we looking at a list of books and manuscripts that *used* to exist?  Or
   were merely singed (like Zaehner's books in Oxford)?

Some printed books of the Burnouf collection had been bought by the
National Library during the 1854 sale. They form the shelfmarks “Sanscrit
1046 to 1102”. You will find below the link to the digital version of this
publication. The numbering in brackets in Cabaton refers to the numbering
in this catalogue.

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5804580x



   3. Finally, how can one distinguish books from manuscripts in this
   listing?

When references of an edition are given (“Calcutta, 1818”), the book is
printed or lithographed. If not, it is “autographed”. But most of the
manuscripts of the Burnouf collection were directly integrated to the
“Sanscrit” collection which had been thematically classified by Cabaton
(Buddhism, Vedism, Purāṇa, Grammar, etc.). You can ask the online
catalogue: Recherche avancée / Cote = ancienne cote = « Burnouf ».

https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/



Another ensemble should be considered. The scientific archives of Eugène
Burnouf are gathered under the “Papiers Burnouf” collection. They were
catalogued by Léon Feer in 1899.

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k2557127



I take this opportunity to announce the recent publication of my book
devoted to the history of the Indian manuscript collection of the National
Library of France, with a particular focus on the Charles d’Ochoa
collection. The book (in French) is open access.

https://books.openedition.org/ephe/3603



Kind regards,

Jérôme Petit

--
Curator of South and Southeast Asian manuscript collections at the National
Library of France (BnF)
Professor for manuscript cultures of the Indian world at the École pratique
des hautes études (EPHE-PSL)
BnF Richelieu - 5 rue Vivienne 75002 Paris
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8622-1087
https://cv.hal.science/jerome-petit



Le mar. 30 déc. 2025 à 00:44, Dominik Wujastyk via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> a écrit :

>
> Can someone familiar with the Paris collections help me with this?  In
> vol. 1 (1907) of Cabaton's *Catalogue sommaire des manuscrits sanscrits
> et palis*, on page 181
> <https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.6175/page/n187/mode/1up> ,
> there begins the catalogue of the Burnouf collection.  My questions are:
>
>    1. What is the meaning of the numbering?  The first number is just a
>    serial number in Cabaton's catalogue, but the Burnouf materials have a
>    second number in parentheses.  What's that number? It's also sequential.
>    2. The footnote on p. 181 refers to a published list of materials in a
>    fire (I can't find that publication).  Was Burnouf's collection destroyed?
>    Are we looking at a list of books and manuscripts that *used* to exist?  Or
>    were merely singed (like Zaehner's books in Oxford)?
>    3. Finally, how can one distinguish books from manuscripts in this
>    listing?
>
> Thanks!
> Dominik
>
>
> --
> Dominik Wujastyk, Professor Emeritus, Classical Indian History
> University of Alberta
>
> "The University of Alberta is committed to the pursuit of truth,
> the advancement of learning, and the dissemination of knowledge
> through teaching, research and other scholarly and creative activities and
> service."
> -- Collective Agreement
> <https://www.ualberta.ca/human-resources-health-safety-environment/media-library/my-employment/agreements/2020-2024-collective-agreement---working-version.pdf>
> 3.01
>
>
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