Historic Ephemera and Manuscripts from Nepal 1700s-1960s

Extent of original: 215 Manuscripts and 1400 Ephemera. Medium of original: Ephemera printed on papers or silk cloths and manuscripts written in traditional as well as modern paper of variable size. Description: The ephemera range from religious, social, cultural, to personal artifacts, but mostly political. There are mainly pamphlets and leaflets, with a good presence of posters, and few used-postcards. There are some belonging to the period of 1900-1951, representing the last 50 years of Rana Period (1846-1951) the remaining titles range from 1951-1960, when Nepal was opened for the first time to the outside world. It was also the period of Nepal''s short stint with parliamentary democracy, until the first elected government was toppled by a coup from King Mahendra in December, 1960, replacing the multiparty democracy with his own brand of ''partyless political system'' named the ''Panchayat''. The 215 manuscripts range from early 19th to early 20th century; the oldest being dated 1808 AD. They cover a wide range of subjects like religion, culture philosophy, law, medicine, hagiography, natural history, and literature. Majority of the manuscripts are written in Nepali language, some in a mix of Sanskrit and Nepali, some in Newari, and few in Hindi or a mix of Hindi and Nepali. About 10 manuscripts are ''Thyasaphu''s (folios of handmade paper, stitched or glued together along the edges). There are also rare manuscripts of literary works by major litterateurs of the country, of which some are unpublished.