Contents: Vol. I: Acknowledgements. Foreword/Pujya Muniraj Shri Jambuvijayaji Maharaj. Foreword/Chairman of the British Library Board. Authors' preface. Bibliography. Abbreviations. Symbols. Introduction. I. Collections, users, catalogues: 1. Manuscripts and scholars: alphabetical index. 2. Recapitulative table. 3. Comparative table: towards an inventory of Jain Manuscripts in Europe. II. The manuscripts--the present catalogue: 1. Organization of the catalogue - list of entries. 2. The manuscripts. 3. Classified list of entries: 1. Svetambara literature. 2. Digambara literature. 3. Belles-lettres and Sastric disciplines. 4. A Vijnaptipatra in the oriental collections. Description of composite manuscripts or codices: a. Composite manuscripts. b. Collective manuscripts or codices. c. Main texts with supplements. Appendices: 1. Selected Scribal Remarks. 2. Alphabetical index of Scribal Maxims. 3. List of dated manuscripts. 4. Chronograms. 5. List of illustrated manuscripts. Indexes: 1. Title of works described. 2. Authors of works described. 3. Names of persons in Scribal Remarks. 4. Names of social and religious groups in Scribal Remarks. 5. Toponyms in Scribal Remarks. Concordances: 1. Concordance of shelfmarks with catalogue numbers. 2. List of manuscripts in individual collections.
Vol. II: I. Svetambara Literature: I. Canonical literature: i. Angas. ii. Upangas. iii. Chedasutras. iv. Mulasutras. v. Nandisutra and Anuyogadvara. vi. Prakirnakas. II. Dogmatics and ethics: i. Avasyaka literature. ii. Works on monastic discipline. iii. Cosmological manuscripts. iv. Karma literature. v. On jivas, ajivas and atman. vi. Ethics: general teaching. vii. Ethics: tracts on specific topics. viii. Polemic works. III. Philosophy. Appendix: Letter-numerals.
Vol. III: I. Svetambara Literature: IV. Narrative literature: i. Lives of the Jinas and related works. ii. Lives of the teachers. iii. Great Jain narrative models. iv. Prabandhas. v. Collections of stories. vi. On other heroes (mainly in Gujarati). vii. Pan-Indian heroes and stories. V. Stotra Literature: 1. Basic hymns (sapta, Nava-smaranas, etc). 2. Hymns to the 24 Jinas as a whole. 3. Hymns to each of the 24 Jinas. 4. Hymns to all other Jinas. 5. Hymns to goddesses. 6. Hymn to the scriptures. 7. Hymns to religious teachers. 8. Tirthas. 9. Hymns to local images of Tirthamkaras. VI. Vrata literature and ritualistic works: 1. Vrata literature. 2. Ritualistic works. 7. Pattavalis. 8. Varia. II. Digambara Literature: 1. Kundakunda's works. 2. Dogmatics, ethics, philosophy. 3. Narrative literature. 4. Hymns. 5. Vrata literature and ritualistic works. 5. Works by Banarasidasa. 7. Varia. III. Belles-lettres and Sastric disciplines: 1. Anthologies and floating verses. 2. Commentaries of non-Jain Kavyas. 3. Grammar. 4. Lexicography. 5. Metrics. 6. Poetics. 7. Riddles. 8. Mathematics. 9. Astronomy and Astrology. 10. Medicine. 11. Music. IV. An invitation scroll.
From the Foreword: "The British Library and other institutions hold rich collections of Jain manuscripts that are well preserved. However, this was not generally known and, despite some existing lists and catalogues, there was no analytical record of the full contents.
The catalogue being published contains information from 1,083 manuscripts contained in 1,425 entries and is an exceptionally inspiring and joyous event. The manuscripts are from the collections of The British Library, the Victoria and Albert Museum and The British Museum.
When the collections came to light, Jain scholars had to be employed from India to travel to Britain where they undertook in-depth research of each manuscript and generated catalogue entries.
The publication of this catalogue brings to light the rich collection of Jain manuscripts that exists in Britain. Such collections contain rare and important texts of Jainism and this catalogue will offer a wealth of scriptural knowledge."
