Adam Matthew to Digitise British Library Major Series of East India Company Records

Adam Matthew celebrate their largest collaboration with the British Library to date with new flagship project

Adam Matthew is delighted to announce a major new project with the British Library that will see the digitisation of some of the core series of the India Office Records (IOR), dating from 1599 to c.1950. These vitally important records, including the charters and minute books of the East India Company and the minute books of the post-1858 Council of India, will be digitised and published over five years. They will be available online via a dedicated website and for free in the British Library’s Reading Rooms at St Pancras (London) and Boston Spa (West Yorkshire).

British Library Curator, Penny Brook, said: “The India Office Records tell the story of trade with the East, maritime, political and military history, the development of empire, and the road to Indian independence. The archives record the history of Britain as trade and empire permeated our society, and the movement of people connected by different worlds. They encompass all manner of historical themes, and record the experiences of the many people whose lives were touched by the activities of the Company and the India Office.

“The content of this multi-module project constitutes the “backbone” of the extensive Records,” she added.

The project will include:
• IOR/A: East India Company: Charters, Deeds, Statutes and Treaties 1600-1947
• IOR/B: Minutes of the East India Company’s Directors and Proprietors, 1599-1858
• IOR/C: Council of India Minutes and Memoranda, 1858-1947
• IOR/D: Minutes and Memoranda of General Committees and Offices of the East India Company

The project will also include the digitisation of the IOR Class G Factory Records. The Factory Records are some of the richest sources available on the East India Company, detailing its establishment as Britain’s largest commercial enterprise by 1800 and its competition with two other major trading powers in the East – the Portuguese and the Dutch.

Khal Rudin, Managing Director of Adam Matthew, commented:

“We’re delighted to continue our ongoing collaboration with the British Library on this project, providing students and scholars all over the world with this invaluable digitised material, which has been in such high demand.”

Enhancing Adam Matthew’s long-standing partnership with the British Library, this ambitious new project will enable scholars and libraries all around the world to become immersed in the rich history of the East India Company, the history of British India and the Indian subcontinent. The first publication is due in January 2017.