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“Prayers for White Tara” (Cayan dar-a eke orosiba).
This special text was acquired in 1917 with over seventy other works transferred from the Crerar Library in Chicago. They were originally acquired by anthropologist Berthold Laufer, and each contains his handwritten notes. It is an example of the so-called “pocket books” popular at the end of the 18th century to be carried when traveling in remote areas. Prayers to Tara, a female Buddha, are well known by Buddhists throughout Tibet and Mongolia. Mongolian rare book collection, Asian Division.