Book Reviews

Author(s): J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong

Page 37

REVIEWS
263
Manfred Taube, Tibetische Handschriften und Blockdrucke, 1-4 (Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, Band XI, 1--4). Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH, 1966. XVI, VII, VII, VII, 1 296 pp., 8 pl. DM 360, -
Taube's catalogue describes 3000 Tibetan manuscripts and blockprints held in six German collections in Berlin (Deutsche Staatsbibliothek, formerly Preussische Staatsbibliothek), Halle (Bibliothek der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft), Dresden Sächsische Landesbibliothek and Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde), Herrnhut/Oberlausitz (Archiv der Brüdergemeine) and Altenburg (Landesarchiv). The most important collection is found in the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek. In 1929 Erich Haenisch bought a complete set of the texts printed in the Sung-chung-szu monastery. The collection brought together by Haenisch contains also texts printed in other Peking monasteries. Manfred Taube points out the importance of this collection for the study of Lamaism in Peking, of Tibetan-Chinese relations in the period from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century and of the influence of the Tibetan lamaist priests on the Mongols during the Manchu period. This is the great importance of a collection which has been systematically brought together. The Deutsche Staatsbibliothek obtained by exchange since the war Tibetan block prints from the State Library in Ulaanbaatar. According to Taube all or most of the Tibetica of the Sächsische Landesbibliothek were collected by the Herrnhut missionary H. A. Zwick among the Kalmuks. The collection in the library of the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft in Halle contains copies of Tibetan blockprints and manuscripts which belonged to H. Wenzel (1855-1893). Taube makes no mention of the collection in the Landesarchiv in Altenburg which comprises 181 items (cf. p. 1293). However, 180 items are part of a Peking blockprint of a gZuns-bsdus printed in 1729 which belonged to either HansConon (1807-1874) or Georg von der Gabelentz (1840-1893), cf. No. 203. It is not clear why Taube attributes 181 texts to this gZuńs-bsdus (p. 1137). According to his catalogue the only other text in the Landesarchiv is a manuscript of a Tibetan letter probably addressed to Samuel Turner (No. 2801).
Taube's description of the texts is much more detailed than the one given in the catalogue of the Tohoku University collection of Tibetan Works on Buddhism (Sendai, 1953) which gives only the number of pages, the Tibetan title, a Japanese translation of the title and a note in English on the contents. Taube indicates carefully the size of the pages, the number of lines, the presence of miniatures, etc. Then follow the title, indications on the contents, the author and the scribe, the beginning of the text and the colophon. The proper names found in the colophon are printed in italics. The fact that the colophons have been reproduced is especially welcome because they contain often many interesting historical details. Finally, Taube gives references to editions and translations and to other catalogues. Another difference with the Sendai catalogue consists in the fact that Taube describes the texts contained in gSun-'bums, gZuńs-bsdus and Chos-spyod rab-gsal editions systematically according to their contents and not as part of the collection to which they belong. However, the appendix lists the texts in the order in which they are found in these collections. Moreover, Taube gives a complete concordance of the four gZuns-bsdus editions (pp. 1137–1144). The collections described by Taube contain twelve gSun-'bum. Among the authors one finds several famous scholars such as Thu'u-bkvan Nag-dban chos-kyi rgya-mtsho, Can-skya Qutuytu Rol-pa'i rdo-rje, Klon-rdol Bla-ma Nag-dban blo-bzan, Thu'u-bkvan Blo-bzan chos-kyi ni-ma and Jaya pandita Blo-bzan 'phrin-las.
Taube has divided the texts into eight groups: A. Kanonische Texte und Kommentare; B. Esoterischer Buddhismus; C. Vinaya-Exegese; D. Wissenschaften; E. Geschichte und Ortsbeschreibungen; F. Lieder; G. Sammlungen; H. Fragmente. By far the largest group is group B (pp. 228-850). The appendix contains - apart from the lists of the works in the twelve gSun'bum, the four gZuns-bsdus editions and the four Chos-spyod rab-gsal editions - a description of the Narthang Kanjur, the names of the persons (danapati, revisor, scribe, translator, author) mentioned in the colophons, the titles of the texts in Tibetan, Mongol and Sanskrit, the brief