The 70's saw a return of old Himalayan books which had been lying neglected in libraries or hidden away in personal collections. The man behind the re-printing of these books, Hallvard K Kuloy, was a UNICEF official who worked in India and Nepal from the late 1960's to the mid-1970's. It was under Kuloy's Bibliotheca Himalayaica series that classics such as Colonel Kirkpatrick's An Account of the Kingdom of Nepaul and John Ware Edgar's Report on a Visit to Sikhim and the Thibetan Frontier were re-printed in the Bibliotheca series. Sadly, Kuloy passed away on 3 May in Oslo, Norway.

One wouldn't perhaps expect it of a UN employee, but Kuloy preferred to spend his free time reading and researching Himalayan literature. His posting to Nepal in 1972 gave him the perfect opportunity to delve deeper into the subject. His pioneering efforts helped set the trend for specialised books on the region, both old and newly researched works such as the 19th century Japanese traveller Ekai Kawaguchi's Three Years in Tibet and Sarat Chandra Das' Journey to Lhasa and Tibet. But perhaps what Kuloy should be best remembered for was his commitment to encouraging world-class publishing in Nepal. He was also one of the chief architects of the Publishing and Research In Nepal and Tibet Foundation.