Tibet
The Oriental Department of The National Library possesses unique collections of Tibetan
literature. They are contained within the reference section, the loan section and the restricted
collection.
REFERENCE SECTION
The Tibetological reference section contains works (catalogues, linguistic - ,
bibliographical - and biographical reference works etc.) both in Western languages and in Tibetan.
Furthermore, the Peking and the Derge editions of the entire Tibetan Canon (bKa' 'gyur and bsTan
'gyur) are available here.
THE LOAN SECTION
The regular Classical Tibetan loan section contains works in Tibetan which are published by
Western, Tibetan and Japanese researchers and consists partly of modern reproductions (mostly from
India, Sikkim, Bhutan and China) of canonical and extra canonical scholastic texts, and partly of
compendia (yig cha) for different sections of the traditional monastic education as well as various
manuals on grammar, astrology, medicine, rituals etc.
The modern and Classical Tibetan texts which are bound in regular book format are lent out to
private readers. Facsimilie reproductions of Tibetan texts in large size book format and in pecha
form (loose pages) are not on loan for private readers. An exception is made for Danish University
Institutes. This collection is searchable in REX
RESTRICTED COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL TIBETAN BLOCK PRINTS AND MANUSCRIPTS
In addition to a Lhasa edition of bKa' 'gyur and a Narthang edition of bsTan 'gyur, this
collection contains approximately 1800 single titles. The collection covers a wide spectrum of
literary genres, such as principal philosophical works, treasure texts (Tib.: gter ma), epocs,
historiographical material, a great number of introductions to, instructions in and commentaries
upon meditation and ritual practices, collected works etc.
It was Prins Peter of Denmark and Greece as well as professor Kaare Gronbech, the engineers
L.S. Munter and S. Black who contributed to the text holdings of this collection, by bringing texts
back from Tibet, Mongolia and China respectively and giving them to The Royal Library.
A catalogue of this collection is available in
Catalogue of Tibetan manuscripts and xylographs by Hartmut Buescher and Tarab Tulku, Copenhagen:
Curzon-The Royal Library, 2000. The texts can only be inspected in the reading room of the
department.
More information, guides etc. can be obtained on our web pages on Buddhism.