Overview

The Mongolian Collection at the Penn Libraries comprises several thousand print volumes published primarily in independent and Inner Mongolia, with an emphasis on historical sources, archaeological reports, ethnographic surveys, and scholarly monographs on Mongolian history. The collection builds on long-standing strengths in frontier zones throughout Central Eurasia and has evolved in close coordination with Penn's programs in Mongolian studies and Central Eurasian studies more generally.

Collection Description

Some of the earliest major Mongolian acquisitions at Penn came through a cooperative acquisition program administered by the Library of Congress New Delhi Office.  Starting in 2016, the Penn Libraries, together, undertook an expansion of its Mongolian holdings. Retrospective acquisitions in Ulaanbaatar, made with support from the School of Arts and Sciences in 2016, form the foundation of the expanded Mongolian Collection. Large quantities of additional materials, many of them less commonly held, have been acquired through gifts: the Georgij Sanji Zagadinow Collection of Kalmyk Materials (and papers) and the Tsorj Lama Collection.

With these recent developments, Penn joins the Library of Congress, Indiana University, University of Eastern Washington, and Harvard University in holding substantial Mongolian collections.

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