Date of tip: August 2014

Source: Andrew Otis

Location:

Serampore College
P.O. Serampore
Dist. Hooghly
West Bengal
PIN: 712 201

How to get there: Take a Suburban train going north from Howrah Station. Serampore (Srirampore) is the stop. The archive/museum is near the river, opposite to the main library building. It is a more modern grey looking building. The archive and museum is on the second floor. The College is a Rs. 30 cycle rickshaw ride, or a 20 minute walk or so.

Language: English, Bengali

Getting started: You will need a photocopy of your passport and visa, as well as a letter of introduction from your supervisor.

Opening Hours: 10:30am-5pm

General working conditions: Moderate conditions. No catalog. There is a catalog in one of the adjoining rooms of the archive but it is for the library, not the archive. No air conditioning. Some publications like the Life and Times of Carey Marshman and Ward and some smaller paperback titles are for sale.

Consultation: Bring two letters of introduction about your research from your home institution, one addressed to the "Serampore College Museum/Archive" one the "Serampore College Principal." The principal's permission is required. So, go in the morning or set up a time the day before. Passport copies may not be required, but good to have just in case. If you talk to the archivist, she might let you browse the stacks without requiring any paperwork.

Particularities: The archive has a partial run of the Friend of India (I think their copy begins in 1830 but I am not sure) as well as a copy of the Asiatic Annual Register from 1805. I didn't see any copies of the Samachar Darpan, but I suspect it might be there. There are numerous copies of proceedings of different Calcutta historical societies. It does not have, the archivist told me, any original letters of Carey, Marshman and Ward.

Policy on technology: Unknown

Photocopy policy:  No facilities available that I have seen.