SOAS Library guide to the Council for World Mission collections

CWMGuidetocollections2002 ( .pdf )

SOAS

Library

Guide to the Council for World Mission Collections


Introduction

The Council for World Mission is a co-operative of 31 member churches
worldwide, with a common commitment to mission. Previously known
as the London Missionary Society, it was established in its present form
in 1977, and was created as an experiment in a new kind of missionary
organisation. As a global body it exists to help resource sharing for
mission by the CWM community of churches. More information about
the work of the Council for World Mission can be found on its website
at http://www.cwmission.org.uk

The Council for World Mission archive and library collections have been
housed on permanent deposit at the Library of the School of Oriental
and African Studies since 1973. Additional materials have been added
in the intervening years and the collections continue to grow.

Letters, journals, reports and other materials in the CWM archive
document in detail the extensive contact between LMS missionary
agents and indigenous peoples and cultures in many parts of Africa,

Asia, the Pacific and the Caribbean over a period of 200 years. To date
the archive spans the period 1764 to 1970. It is a highly valued resource,
frequently consulted by academic scholars from many disciplines, by
family historians, and by students of church and mission.

The CWM Library is one of the richest repositories for research on the
Western missionary enterprise in India, China, Africa and the South
Pacific in general, and is an important historical resource on cultural
relations between these regions and Europe. In the interests of long-term
preservation and security the archive and library are housed in an
environmentally controlled and secure area within SOAS Library and
are consulted in a supervised reading room.


Council for World Mission Archive

The Council for World Mission archive comprises the original records
of the London Missionary Society (1795-1966) and the Commonwealth
Missionary Society (1836-1966). It also contains some materials from
1764 onwards which pre-date the founding of the LMS, and some
records from 1966-70 relating to its successor body, the Congregational
Council for World Mission. Eventually the archive will contain records
of the Congregational Council for World Mission (1966-77) and the
Council for World Mission (1977 onwards), as more materials are
transferred to SOAS Library. A related collection is the archive of the
Presbyterian Church of England Foreign Missions Committee, now the
United Reformed Church, which is a member of CWM.

An Assistant Archivist was appointed at SOAS in 1999 as a result of a
substantial endowment by CWM specifically to look after the collection
and make it more widely available. A project to fully catalogue the
collection in an electronic form and make these catalogue records and
finding aids available to researchers via the Internet is now underway.
Details of progress can be found on the Archive Division’s website at
http://www.soas.ac.uk/ archives

Records up to 1950 are also available on microfiche and are available
for purchase from Inter Documentation Company, Netherlands
(http://www.idc.nl). Many libraries and institutions around the world
have purchased sections of the archive on microfiche, so that access to
the archive collection is not limited to the original papers held at SOAS.

London Missionary Society papers

The London Missionary Society archive contains a wide range of
correspondence, missionary reports, journals and personal papers
of individual missionaries, as well as the administrative papers of
the Home Office of the London Missionary Society. The papers
date primarily from the foundation of the mission in 1795 to 1966.

Home Office records

These include board minutes (from 1795), minutes of the regional
committees, administrative papers and committee minutes,
correspondence (1764 onwards) and missionary candidates’ papers
(1796-1940). 324 boxes


Overseas mission records

These include correspondence from missionaries in the field, journals of
individual missionaries, reports from mission stations (1866 onwards),
subject files (from 1940), and personal collections. The collection
contains materials for the following areas:

Africa: records relate to Southern Africa (including South Africa,
Bechuanaland, Botswana, Matabeleland, and Southern Rhodesia or
Zimbabwe) from 1797 onwards. Central Africa mission correspondence,
journals and reports date from the 1880s and relate to Northern
Rhodesia or Zambia and Lake Tanzania. More general Africa materials
covering the missions are included up to 1970. 343 boxes.

Americas: correspondence (1799-1840) relating to missions in Canada,
Newfoundland, South America, Bahamas and Bermuda, including
correspondence with missionaries in the United States. 3 boxes.

Australia: correspondence (from 1789) relating to the LMS base in
Australia, as well as journals and subject files. Materials are included
up to 1970. The Australia records also relate to the Pacific and Papua
New Guinea mission fields. 54 boxes.

China: records relate to the mission fields of North, South and Central
China, as well as records specific to South Fukien (Fujian). Most areas
have material from the mid-19th century onwards. East Asia records are
included up to 1970. 331 boxes.

Europe: correspondence and journals relating to the Greek and Malta
mission (1808-46) and the Russia mission (1804-48), correspondence
relating to the Mission to the Jews in London (1801-09), and
correspondence with European missionaries from France, Germany,
Holland and Scandinavia (1797-1849). Includes material relating to
the mission to the Buryats in Siberia. 28 boxes.

India: records relate to missions in North India, including Bengal,
Gujerat and the United Provinces (Uttar Pradesh), and to South India,
including the Canarese, Telugu, and Tamil speaking areas, in addition to
Travancore (Kerala). North India materials date from 1800 and South


India materials from 1817. However, the bulk of the holdings relate to
the South India mission fields. More general records relating to India
missions are included up to 1970. 490 boxes.

Madagascar: records pre-date the establishment of a mission in
Madagascar and exist from 1774. They include correspondence and
journals relating to Mauritius. Records are included up to 1970. 158
boxes.

Papua New Guinea: correspondence, journals and reports date from
1871, with the establishment of the mission, up to 1970. 46 boxes.

South Seas or Pacific: records date from 1796 when this first mission
field was established, and materials are included up to 1970. Records
relate to several island groups and areas including Samoa, Loyalty
Islands, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Society Islands. 226
boxes.

South East Asia (Ultra Ganges mission): correspondence and journals
for the Ultra Ganges or South East Asia mission date from 1805, and
relate to Malacca, Penang, Singapore, Amboyna, Rangoon, Batavia and
Java. The missions were staging posts for LMS activity in China, and the
latest material is dated 1859. 16 boxes.

West Indies and British Guiana: records date from 1807 to 1923, and
relate to missions in both the Caribbean and British Guiana (Guyana).
Areas covered include Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Demerara and
Berbice. 59 boxes.

Personal papers

The archive contains a number of collections of personal papers of
missionaries, which have been donated directly to the Council for World
Mission, and which document their personal and familial experiences.
These collections include those of LMS administrators such as the
papers of Ralph Wardlaw Thompson (Foreign Secretary) and William
Nelson Bitton (Home Secretary), as well as many from the geographic
areas of mission activity. Important collections include those of Robert
Moffat, Holloway Helmore and James Read relating to Africa. There is a


significant collection of material relating to David Livingstone, which
includes his correspondence. Other collections include those of James
Legge and Robert Morrison (China), Sadhu Sundar Singh (India), James
Sibree and Elizabeth Lomas (Madagascar), James Chalmers (Papua New
Guinea), and James Newell and John Williams (South Seas). 122 boxes

Miscellaneous papers

There are also sequences of miscellaneous materials from the mission
field, referred to as ‘Odds’. These include some minutes of District
Committees, papers of missionary deputations, accounts of mission
work and specific institutions, and general papers relating to the mission
field, including subject based materials. 171 boxes

Other materials

The archive also contains over 15,000 photographs, and a large quantity
of other visual materials, including missionary portraits, negatives and
maps. The missionary photographs have undergone extensive cataloguing
as part of the Research Libraries Support Programme MUNDUS project
to facilitate improved access to missionary resources in the UK. Some
images have been digitised and are available on the Division’s website.

Khama and his headmen c.1882
(CWM LMS Africa Photographs,
Box 6 file 42/6)


Commonwealth Missionary Society papers

The Commonwealth (previously Colonial) Missionary Society was
formed in 1836 with the principal aim of providing communities in
Canada and North America with ministers. Its work was restricted to
the British colonies, and North America. The Society's object was "the
promotion of education and religion in the British colonies", and by
1842 had established mission stations in Wellington, New Zealand, and
Canada. By the end of the 19th century, work had expanded to include
missions in South Africa, Australia and the British West Indies. In 1966
the Society merged with the London Missionary Society to form the
Congregational Council for World Mission.

The archive at SOAS contains board minutes, committee minutes and
overseas correspondence. Few records survive for the 19th century,
although board and committee minutes date from 1836-37. The main
series of overseas correspondence are for Australia, Canada, Guyana,
Jamaica, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States. 62 boxes

Related papers at SOAS Library

SOAS Library holds a number of collections relating to the Council
for World Mission archive, generally small collections of the personal
papers of missionaries. These include the papers of James Hardyman
(PP MS 63), James Cameron (MS 380685), John Parrett (MS 380674)
and James Sibree (MS 380616) relating to Madagascar; the diaries of
Wilson and Mabel Geller (MS 380482), the papers of Laura Beckingsale
(MS 354917) and William Lockhart (MS 380645) relating to China; the
papers of John Boden Thomson (MS 380311) from Matabeleland and
Reginald Moore (MS 380399) from the Copperbelt, Southern Africa.


Relevant publications

Richard Lovett The history of the London Missionary Society 1795-1895
(Oxford University Press, 1899)

Norman Goodall A history of the London Missionary Society 1895-1945
(Oxford University Press, 1954)

Bernard Thorogood (ed.) Gales of change : responding to a shifting
missionary context: the story of the London Missionary Society, 1945-1977
(Geneva: WCC, 1994)

Andrew N. Porter The Council for World Mission and its archival legacy
(SOAS, 1999)

Council for World Mission Library

Introduction

The Council for World Mission Library collection of over 13,000 books
and pamphlets comprises both the ‘General Library’ of the London
Missionary Society and the extensive collection of works donated by
the medical missionary William Lockhart (1811-96). Lockhart’s library
included works in both European and East Asian languages (primarily
Chinese), and was donated in 1892. A catalogue of the collection was
compiled by Goodeve Mabbs and published in 1899. Part of the Council
for World Mission Library was purchased by the National Library of
Australia in 1961, amounting to approximately 600 volumes of Chinese
publications, and which included an important collection of materials
on the Taiping Rebellion. A catalogue to these works is now available
from NLA, and a copy is in the CWM Library.

A resource on the London Missionary Society

General accounts of the LMS include histories by William Ellis,

Richard Lovett, C.S. Horne and Norman Goodall. The library includes
periodicals, including the Annual report of the LMS; Transactions of the
Missionary Society (1804-18); Quarterly chronicle (1815-32); Chronicle of
the London Missionary Society (1822-1950); Juvenile missionary magazine
(1844-94); and News from afar (1895-1939).


On specific LMS missions, researchers will find runs of reports
covering whole regions, single missions or single institutions, which are
supplemented by accounts from local missionaries, local Conferences
and LMS deputations.

Biographies of LMS missionaries provide information not only on
luminaries such as David Livingstone but also on very many lesser-
known men and women (and their spouses). Useful as a check-list is
James Sibree’s London Missionary Society: a register of missionaries ...

1796 to 1923.

The enormous holding of publications by LMS missionaries not only
focuses on the theory and practice of Christian evangelism, but also
ranges across all aspects of non-European cultures.

A resource on other Christian missions

On Orthodox missions the library holds general histories of Russian
missions by Smirnoff and Bolshakoff. On Catholic missions it has a
notable collection of early works on East Asia by Francis Xavier, Ricci
& others, and extensive documentation of the Chinese rites controversy.
On Protestant missions the library’s holdings are very rich, especially on
other British societies, from larger bodies such as the Church Missionary
Society to smaller organisations like the Society for the Suppression of
the Opium Trade. Considerable documentation on North American and
European missions is also included.

A resource on missionary theory and practice

The copious holdings of the library naturally cover all aspects of the
Christian mission: theology and theory; history; geography and atlases;
organisation, finance, public relations and evaluation; evangelism and
preaching (including hymns and music); relation of Christianity to
other religions; cultural and anthropological aspects; special work
(to specific ethnic or religious groups; rural, educational, industrial
and vocational training; linguistic work; work with women; medical
work); missionaries (including women missionaries, vocations, working
conditions); interdenominational co-operation and Christian unification;
indigenous Church administration and development of local churches.


A resource on intercultural history

The LMS prepared for its work by building up a large library on the
geography, history, natural history, anthropology, religion, philosophy,
literature, science and medicine of the peoples with whom it was to be
in contact. The missionaries themselves contributed greatly to all these
fields of research. The library has good holdings of early literature of
travel and exploration; translations of Asian classics into European
languages; dictionaries and grammars; and the earliest imprints of
many Asian, African and Pacific languages. For some languages these
missionary publications provide the only known record.

Searching the CWM Library

The library collection has been catalogued onto the SOAS on-line
system. All books in the library have the prefix CWML, and are
consulted in the Special Collections Reading Room. The catalogue
maybe consulted remotely at http://lib.soas.ac.uk or via Telnet at
lib.soas.ac.uk.

Users of the SOAS on-line catalogue may search on titles, on authors
(including corporations, such as London Missionary Society, or
subordinate bodies, such as London Missionary Society. Madagascar
Mission) or on subjects. Subject headings include not only specifically
missionary terms, such as Missions, Missionaries, Women Missionaries,
and their subordinate headings, such as Linguistic work, Anthropological
aspects, but also terms relating to the Church (e.g. Mission of the Church,
Indigenous Church administration, Church and state, Church and
social problems, Church history) and general terms such as Education,
Race relations, History, Theory, Periodicals and geographic headings.
Missionaries and missionary societies may be traced as authors or as
subjects.


Accessing the CWM collections

All members of SOAS Library can access the CWM Library, and the
finding aids and reference works relating to the CWM archive kept in
the Special Collections Reading Room. Day membership holders are also
entitled to reference access to the SCRR. Archive materials themselves
are restricted to SOAS Library borrowing and reference ticket holders,
and to archive ticket holders. Members of academic staff of UK and
overseas universities should bring relevant identification and should
ask for a reference ticket. Research students should bring a letter of
recommendation from their Departments in order to obtain an archives
ticket. Members of the public or researchers not attached to academic
bodies should apply to the Council for World Mission directly for a
letter of recommendation, which will then enable them to apply for
an archives ticket. Archives tickets are free and are valid for a period
of 3 months. Readers requiring a longer period of access should contact
Archive staff.

Since both the CWM Library and the archive collections are kept in
closed access, materials are requisitioned from the store using a requisition
slip. Collections are made at 10am, 11.30am, 2.00pm and 4.30pm,
Mondays to Fridays. All materials are consulted under supervised
conditions in the Special Collections Reading Room on Level F in SOAS
Library. The SCRR is open from 9am to 7pm Monday to Thursday and
9am to 5pm on Fridays. The SCRR is also open on one Saturday morning
every month. During the summer vacation, the SCRR is open from 9am
to 5pm Monday to Friday, and collections are made at 10am, 11.30am
and 2.30pm. SOAS Library, including the Archives and Manuscripts
Division, is closed for stocktaking for one week each year in June, and
there is no access to archive or library materials during this period.
Further information concerning use and access of the collections can be
found on the Archive Division’s webpages (http://soas.ac.uk/archives).

Lesley Price & Warwick Harris,
February 2002


Contact information

Lesley Price, Assistant Archivist,

Archives, Manuscripts and Rare Books Division,
SOAS Library,

Thornhaugh Street,

Russell Square,

London WC1H OXG,

UK

T: +44 (0)20 7898 4182
F: +44 (0)20 7898 4189
E: docenquiry@soas.ac.uk
web: http://www.soas.ac.uk/archives

Council for World Mission,

Ipalo House,

32-34 Great Peter Street,

London SW1W 2DB,

UK

T: +44 (0)20 7222 4214
F: +44 (0)20 7233 1747 or 7222 3510
E: council@cwmission.org.uk
web: http://www.cwmission.org.uk

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IntroductionThe Council forWorldMissionisa co-operative of31memberchurches worldwide, with acommoncommitment to mission. Previously known asthe London Missionary Society,itwas established inits present form in1977,andwascreatedasan experiment inanew kind of missionary organisation. Asaglobal body itexiststohelpresource sharing for mission bytheCWM community of churches. More information about the work ofthe Council forWorldMissioncanbe found onitswebsite at http://www.cwmission.org.ukThe Council forWorldMissionarchiveand library collectionshavebeen housed on permanent deposit atthe Library oftheSchoolof Oriental andAfricanStudiessince1973.Additional materials havebeen added inthe intervening yearsandthecollections continue togrow. Letters, journals, reports and other materials intheCWMarchive document indetailtheextensive contact betweenLMS missionary agentsand indigenous peoplesand cultures in many parts ofAfrica, Asia,thePacificandthe Caribbean overa period of200years.Todate thearchivespansthe period1764to1970.Itisahighlyvalued resource, frequently consulted byacademicscholarsfrom many disciplines,by family historians, andby students of church and mission. TheCWM Library isoneoftherichest repositories for research onthe Western missionary enterprise in India, China,Africaandthe South Pacificingeneral,andisanimportanthistorical resourceon cultural relations between theseregionsandEurope.Inthe interests of long-term preservation and security thearchiveand library are housed inan environmentally controlled andsecurearea within SOAS Library and are consulted ina supervised reading room.

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CouncilforWorld Mission ArchiveThe Council forWorldMissionarchive comprises the original records ofthe London Missionary Society(1795-1966)andthe Commonwealth Missionary Society(1836-1966).Italso contains some materials from1764onwards which pre-date the founding oftheLMS,andsome recordsfrom1966-70relating toitssuccessorbody,the Congregational Council forWorldMission.Eventuallythearchivewill contain records ofthe Congregational Council forWorldMission(1966-77)andthe Council forWorldMission(1977onwards), as more materials are transferred toSOASLibrary.Arelatedcollectionisthearchiveofthe Presbyterian Church of England ForeignMissions Committee, nowthe United Reformed Church, which isa member ofCWM.AnAssistantArchivistwas appointed atSOASin1999asaresultofa substantial endowment byCWMspecificallytolookafterthecollection andmakeitmorewidelyavailable.A project tofullycataloguethe collectioninan electronic formandmakethesecataloguerecordsand finding aidsavailableto researchers viathe Internet isnowunderway. Detailsofprogresscanbe found ontheArchiveDivision'swebsiteat http://www.soas.ac. uk/archives Recordsupto1950arealsoavailableon microfiche andareavailable for purchase from Inter Documentation Company, Netherlands (http://www.idc.nl). Many libraries and institutions around the world have purchased sectionsofthearchiveon microfiche, so that accessto thearchivecollectionisnotlimited tothe original papers heldatSOAS.London Missionary Society papersThe London Missionary Societyarchive contains awiderangeof correspondence, missionary reports, journals and personal papers of individual missionaries, aswellasthe administrative papers of the Home Officeofthe London Missionary Society.The papers date primarily fromthe foundation ofthe mission in1795to1966.HomeOfficerecordsThese includeboardminutes (from1795),minutes ofthe regional committees, administrative papers and committee minutes, correspondence(1764onwards) and missionary candidates' papers(1796-1940).324boxes

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OverseasmissionrecordsThese include correspondence from missionaries inthefield, journals of individual missionaries, reports from mission stations (1866 onwards), subjectfiles(from1940),and personal collections.Thecollection contains materials forthefollowingareas:Africa:recordsrelateto Southern Africa (including South Africa, Bechuanaland, Botswana, Matabeleland, and Southern Rhodesia or Zimbabwe) from1797onwards. Central Africa mission correspondence, journals and reports datefromthe1880sandrelateto Northern Rhodesia or Zambia andLakeTanzania.More general Africa materials coveringthe missions are included upto1970.343boxes.Americas:correspondence (1799-1840) relating to missions in Canada, Newfoundland, South America,Bahamasand Bermuda, including correspondence with missionaries inthe United States.3boxes.Australia:correspondence (from1789)relatingtotheLMSbasein Australia,aswellas journals andsubjectfiles.Materialsare included upto1970.The Australia recordsalsorelatetothePacificand Papua New Guinea missionfields.54boxes.China:recordsrelatetothe mission fieldsof North, South and Central China, aswellasrecordsspecificto South Fukien(Fujian).Mostareas have material fromthe mid-19th century onwards.EastAsiarecordsare included upto1970.331boxes.Europe:correspondence and journals relating totheGreekandMalta mission (1808-46)andtheRussia mission (1804-48), correspondence relating totheMissiontotheJewsin London (1801-09),and correspondence with European missionaries fromFrance,Germany, Holland and Scandinavia (1797-1849). Includes material relating to the mission totheBuryatsinSiberia.28boxes.India:recordsrelateto missions inNorthIndia, including Bengal, Gujerat andthe United Provinces (Uttar Pradesh), andto South India, including the Canarese, Telugu,andTamil speaking areas,in addition to Travancore(Kerala).NorthIndia materials datefrom1800and South

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India materials from1817.However,thebulkofthe holdings relateto the South India mission fields.More general records relating to India missions are included upto1970.490boxes.Madagascar:records pre-date the establishment ofamissionin Madagascar andexistfrom1774.They include correspondence and journals relating to Mauritius. Recordsare included upto1970.158boxes.PapuaNewGuinea:correspondence, journals and reports datefrom1871,with the establishment ofthe mission, upto1970.46boxes.South SeasorPacific:recordsdatefrom1796whenthisfirst mission fieldwasestablished,and materials are included upto1970.Records relatetoseveralisland groups andareas including Samoa,Loyalty Islands,CookIslands,Kiribati,TuvaluandtheSocietyIslands.226boxes.South EastAsia(UltraGanges mission):correspondence and journals forthe Ultra Gangesor South EastAsia mission datefrom1805,and relatetoMalacca,Penang, Singapore, Amboyna, Rangoon, Bataviaand Java.The missions werestagingpostsforLMSactivityinChina,andthe latest material isdated1859.16boxes.WestIndiesandBritishGuiana:recordsdatefrom1807to1923,and relateto missions inboththe Caribbean andBritish Guiana (Guyana). Areascovered include Jamaica, Trinidad andTobago, Demerara and Berbice.59boxes.PersonalpapersThearchive contains anumberof collections of personal papers of missionaries, which havebeen donated directlytothe Council forWorld Mission,and which document their personal andfamilialexperiences. Thesecollections include thoseofLMS administrators suchasthe papers ofRalphWardlaw Thompson (ForeignSecretary)andWilliam Nelson Bitton (Home Secretary), aswellas many fromthe geographic areasof mission activity.Importantcollections include thoseof Robert Moffat,Holloway Helmore andlamesReadrelatingtoAfrica.Thereisa

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significant collectionof material relating toDavidLivingstone, which includes his correspondence.Othercollections include thoseoflames Leggeand Robert Morrison (China), Sadhu Sundar Singh (India), lames SibreeandElizabethLomas (Madagascar), lames Chalmers (PapuaNew Guinea), andlamesNewellandJohnWilliams (South Seas).122boxesMiscellaneous papersTherearealsosequencesof miscellaneous materials fromthe mission field, referred toas 'Odds: These include some minutes of District Committees, papers of missionary deputations, accounts of mission work andspecific institutions, and general papersrelatingtothe mission field, including subjectbased materials.171boxesOther materialsThearchivealso contains over15,000photographs, andalarge quantity of other visual materials, including missionary portraits, negativesand maps.The missionary photographs have undergone extensive cataloguing aspartoftheResearchLibraries Support Programme MUNDUS project tofacilitate improved accessto missionary resourcesintheUK.Some imageshavebeendigitisedandareavailableontheDivision'swebsite.Khamaandhis headmenc.1882(CWMLMSAfricaPhotographs, Box6file42/6)

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Commonwealth Missionary Society papersThe Commonwealth (previously Colonial) Missionary Societywas formed in1836 with the principal aimof providing communities in Canada andNorthAmerica with ministers. Its work was restricted to theBritishcolonies,andNorthAmerica.TheSociety's object was"the promotion of education andreligionintheBritishcolonies",andby 1842had established mission stations in Wellington, New Zealand, and Canada. Bytheendofthe19thcentury, work had expanded to include missions in South Africa,Australiaandthe British WestIndies.In1966 theSociety merged with the London Missionary Societytoformthe Congregational Council forWorldMission. ThearchiveatSOAS contains board minutes, committee minutes and overseas correspondence. Few records surviveforthe19thcentury, although board and committee minutes datefrom1836-37.The main seriesofoverseas correspondence areforAustralia, Canada, Guyana, Jamaica,New Zealand, South Africaandthe United States.62boxesRelated papersatSOASLibrarySOAS Library holdsanumberofcollections relating tothe Council forWorldMissionarchive,generallysmallcollectionsofthe personal papers of missionaries. These include the papers oflames Hardyman (PPMS63),lames Cameron (MS380685),John Parrett (MS380674) andlamesSibree(MS380616)relatingto Madagascar; thediariesof WilsonandMabelGeller(MS380482),the papers ofLauraBeckingsale (MS354917)andWilliam Lockhart (MS380645)relatingtoChina;the papers ofJohnBoden Thomson (MS380311)from Matabeleland and ReginaldMoore(MS380399)fromthe Copperbelt, Southern Africa.

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Relevant publicationsRichardLovettThehistoryoftheLondonMissionarySociety1795-1895(Oxford University Press,1899) Norman GoodallAhistoryoftheLondonMissionarySociety1895-1945(Oxford University Press,1954) Bernard Thorogood(ed.)Galesofchange:respondingtoashifting missionarycontext:thestoryoftheLondonMissionarySociety,1945-1977(Geneva:WCC,1994) AndrewN.PorterTheCouncil for WorldMissionanditsarchivallegacy(SOAS,1999)CouncilforWorld Mission LibraryIntroductionThe Council forWorldMission Library collectionofover13,000books and pamphlets comprisesboththe
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OnspecificLMS missions, researchers willfind runs of reports coveringwholeregions,single missions orsingle institutions, whichare supplemented by accounts fromlocal missionaries, local Conferences andLMS deputations. Biographies ofLMS missionaries provide informationnotonlyon luminaries suchasDavidLivingstonebutalsoonverymanylesser known menand women (and their spouses). Usefulasacheck-listis lamesSibree'sLondon Missionary Society:aregisterofmissionaries ... 1796to1923.The enormous holding of publications byLMS missionariesnotonly focusesonthe theory and practice of Christian evangelism,butalso rangesacrossallaspectsof non-European cultures.AresourceonotherChristianmissionsOnOrthodoxmissions the library holds general histories ofRussian missions by Smirnoff andBolshakoff.On Catholic missions ithasa notable collectionofearlyworksonEastAsiabyFrancisXavier,Ricci&others,andextensive documentation oftheChineseritescontroversy. On Protestant missions the library's holdings areveryrich,especiallyon other Britishsocieties,fromlargerbodiessuchasthe Church Missionary Societyto smaller organisations liketheSocietyforthe Suppression of the Opium Trade. Considerable documentation onNorthAmerican and European missions isalso included.Aresourceonmissionarytheoryand practiceThecopious holdings ofthe library naturally coverallaspectsofthe Christian mission: theology and theory; history; geography andatlases; organisation, finance, public relations and evaluation; evangelismand preaching (including hymns andmusic); relation of Christianity to other religions; cultural and anthropological aspects;special work (tospecific ethnic orreligiousgroups; rural, educational, industrial and vocational training; linguistic work;work with women; medical work); missionaries (including women missionaries, vocations, working conditions); interdenominational co-operation and Christian unification; indigenous Church administration and development oflocalchurches.

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Aresourceon intercultural historyTheLMS prepared foritsworkby building upalarge library onthe geography,history, natural history, anthropology, religion, philosophy, literature, scienceand medicine ofthepeopleswith whom itwastobe in contact. The missionaries themselves contributed greatlytoallthese fieldsofresearch.The library hasgood holdings ofearly literature of traveland exploration; translations ofAsianclassics into European languages; dictionaries and grammars; andtheearliest imprints ofmanyAsian,AfricanandPacificlanguages.Forsomelanguagesthese missionary publications provide theonly known record.SearchingtheCWMLibraryThe library collectionhasbeen catalogued onto theSOAS on-line system.All books inthe library havetheprefixCWML,andare consulted intheSpecial Collections ReadingRoom.The catalogue maybe consulted remotely at http://lib.soas.ac.uk orviaTelnetat lib.soas.ac.uk. UsersoftheSOAS on-line cataloguemaysearchontitles,on authors (including corporations, suchas London Missionary Society,or subordinate bodies,suchas London Missionary Society. Madagascar Mission) oronsubjects.Subject headings includenotonlyspecifically missionary terms, suchasMissions, Missionaries, Women Missionaries, and their subordinate headings,suchasLinguisticwork, Anthropological aspects,butalsotermsrelatingtothe Church(e.g,Missionofthe Church, Indigenous Church administration, Church andstate, Church and social problems, Church history) and general terms suchas Education, Race relations, History,Theory, Periodicals and geographic headings. Missionaries and missionary societiesmaybetracedas authors oras subjects.

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Accessing theCWMcollectionsAll members ofSOAS Library canaccesstheCWMLibrary,andthe finding aidsandreferenceworksrelatingtotheCWMarchivekeptin theSpecial Collections ReadingRoom.Day membership holders arealso entitled toreferenceaccesstotheSCRR.Archive materials themselves are restricted toSOAS Library borrowing andreferenceticket holders, andtoarchiveticket holders. Members of academic staffofUKand overseas universities should bring relevant identification and should askforareferenceticket.Research students should bring aletterof recommendation from their Departments in order to obtain anarchives ticket. Members ofthe public orresearchersnotattached to academic bodies should applytothe Council forWorldMissiondirectlyfora letterof recommendation, whichwillthenenable them toapplyfor anarchivesticket.Archivesticketsarefreeandarevalidfora period of3 months. Readers requiring a longer period ofaccess should contact Archivestaff. SinceboththeCWM Library andthearchivecollectionsarekeptin closedaccess,materialsare requisitioned fromthestoreusinga requisition slip. Collections are made atlOarn,11.30am,2.00pmand 4.30pm, MondaystoFridays.All materials are consulted under supervised conditions intheSpecial Collections ReadingRoomonLevelFinSOAS Library.TheSCRRisopenfrom9amto7pm Monday to Thursday and 9amtoSpmonFridays.TheSCRRisalsoopenonone Saturday morning every month. During thesummervacation, theSCRRisopenfrom9am toSpm Monday toFriday,andcollectionsare made atl Oam,11.30am and2.30pm.SOASLibrary, including theArchivesand Manuscripts Division, isclosedfor stocktaking foroneweekeachyearinJune,and thereisnoaccesstoarchiveor library materials during this period. Further information concerning useandaccessofthecollectionscanbe found ontheArchiveDivision'swebpages (http://soas.ac.uk/archives). LesleyPrice&Warwick Harris, February 2002