Henri Cordier’s Bibliotheca sinica, published in 5 massive quarto volumes in 1924, is the undisputed and reliable key to the Western literature on China and Central Asia up to this date. The author checked the titles himself, and whenever this was impossible he marked the entry. The bibliography is not limited to certain fields, e.g. humanities – it covers also the natural sciences, politics, current affairs, business etc. Pseudonyms are identified when possible, Chinese characters added when feasible. This masterpiece of scholarly work, indispensable to any serious worker in the field, has only one major fault – there is no index. A makeshift index (mimeographed, 1953) which covers only the better known names has been of much use during the last half a century but did not save scholars from constantly reading through the bibliography.
The present index, prepared by Hartmut Walravens, offers access to all proper names included in the work, not only to the listed authors but also to those in the notes and comments, with the exception of auction and sales price information and cross references. This handy work tool will make research much easier and more efficient and allow convenient access to a wealth of reliable information.