CSAC Catalogue of the Rig 'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu rNying ma'i rgyud 'bum
The UKC/CSAC Catalogue of the Rig 'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu rNying ma'i rgyud 'bum
Introduction to the Collection[edit]
The rig 'dzin tshe dbang nor bu edition of the rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum is a beautifully illustrated set of manuscripts, originally in thirty-three volumes, thirty volumes of which survive. It represents an important collection of Tibetan Buddhist tantric scriptures, once with many witnesses, but now with only a handful of extant editions. Of all the surviving editions, the Rig 'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu edition is the most lavishly produced, manufactured from good materials, finely decorated, and illustrated with many high quality hand-painted miniatures. The collection was procured in Tibet during the Younghusband expedition in 1904 by L.A. Waddell, who identified it as the most splendid and significant of all the great number of literary artifacts he procured during that expedition. Twenty-nine of the volumes are now located at the British Library, London, while one volume is to be found at Oxford University's Bodleian Library, and two illuminated title folios at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
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