The British Library Board has recently approved a proposal to begin compiling within the Reference Division the first stage of a South Asia and Burma Retrospective Bibliography (SABREB). For the purposes of this project South Asia is understood as comprising India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. The Reference Division is uniquely fitted to undertake such a project which will undoubtedly fill a major gap in the bibliographical record of the sub-continent. The combined collections of the Department of Printed Books, the India Office Library and Records (IOLR), and the Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books (OMPB) are unrivalled outside South Asia and contain a great many rare items no longer, alas, to be found in their countries of origin.