British Library keeps valuable items showing history of Vietnam-UK relations

The letter from the Tay Son ruler, Emperor Canh Thinh, dated May 1793. (Photo: VNA)

London (VNA) – Although the Vietnamese collection at theBritish Library (BL) in the UK is quite small, it's actually very important, showingthat the relations between the two countries had shaped long before theirofficial diplomatic relations were set up in 1973, according to Dr. Annabel TehGallop, Lead Curator for Southeast Asia at the library.

The collection comprises about10 old manuscripts and an important collection of printed books, especially magazinesand journals published in North Vietnam during the war.

Of the manuscripts kept at theBL, Gallop introduced two valuable materials, including a letter in 1673 fromthe Vietnamese ruler, Lord Trinh Tac, to William Gyfford of the East IndiaCompany during a trip to Tonkin to seek the establishment of commercialrelations with the region; and a letter from the Tay Son ruler, Emperor CanhThinh, dated May 1793, to welcome Lord McCartney, head of the first Britishdiplomatic mission on its way to establishing commercial relations with China. Theships were struck by a storm off the cost of Central Vietnam and needed toreplenish provisions, leading Lord McCartney to seek help from the Vietnameseruler.

Gallop said the letter of Lord Trinh Tacdated 350 years ago from 1673, reflecting that the relations betweenVietnam and the UK are much older than 50 years. She said this beautifulimperial letter is the earliest Vietnamese manuscript in the collection, havingbeen in the BL since 1753, right from the earliest days of the library and datingfrom the very beginning of Vietnam-UK relations.

Meanwhile, the letter ofEmperor Canh Thinh is another official diplomatic exchange between the twocountries that arose because of unforeseen circumstances of bad weather at sea.

Gallop also introduced three imperial scrollsissued by the Emperor in the 1920s to confer deity status on the local guardsof three villages.

The scrolls reflect theconditions and the history and culture of Vietnam itself, she said.

Apart from about 10 Han Nommanuscripts dated from 17th to early 20th centuries, the Vietnamese collectionat the BL includes around 10.000 monographs and 290 titles of periodicals andnewspapers.

Manuscript treasures includea copy of one of the greatest Vietnamese literary works, Truyen Kieu (the Taleof Kieu) by great Vietnamese poet Nguyen Du (1765-1820), she said.

According to Gallop, her former colleague, Dr.Sud Chonchirdsin, who was the curator of the Vietnamese collections in the BL for15 years until he retired in 2019, wrote a wonderful book about thesecollections, which is expected to be published this year in association withthe World Publishing House of Vietnam as an event to celebrate this 50th foundinganniversary of the diplomatic ties between the UK and Vietnam.

Being the national library of the UK and one of the world’s largest libraries,the BL boasts collections of more than 170 million items in over 400 languages,including books, magazines, manuscripts, maps, music scores, newspapers,patents, databases, philatelic items, prints and drawings and sound recordingsfrom all over the world./.

VNA