The First [Second, Third and Fourth Book] of the Hitopadesa, containing the Sanskrit Text, with interlinear translation, grammatical analysis, and English translation.

MULLER Max

Published by Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green 1864-65, London, 1864

About this Item

First pedagogical edition. Four books in two volumes as issued. Sanskrit with interlinear English. Xxi, [1, table of contents], 95, [1, blank]; vi, 151, [1] pp. Publisher?s blind ruled and stamped pebbled mauve cloth, gilt cover lettering, pale yellow endpapers. Stamp of eccentric collector Charles J. Carlotti on the half title. Contemporary signature of Jeremiah Curtin in the free endpaper. Curtin was an American linguist, translator, folklorist, and ethnographer. A lovely set overall with no real issues to speak of.The Hitopadesa is roughly equivalent to the fables of Aesop. Both are fundamental to understand the cultures that produced them and both were relatively easy to read by the populace. The Hitopadesa was translated into English long before Muller issued this edition. Charles Wilkins, the renown scholar who first translated the Bhagavad-Gita (1785) issued the first English translation in 1787. Wilkins was the premier Sanskrit scholar of the age and soon all linguists felt that they had to learn Sanskrit as it was seen as kind of the precursor to all European languages. Max Muller was the next preeminent Sanskrit scholar and his chief work was the translation of the Rig Veda written by the 14th century Sanskrit scholar Sayanacharya. He spent the majority of his life at Oxford and was extremely influential in Victorian England. He is rightly viewed as pioneering the field of religious studies. I the 1860s he undertook editing a series he called ?Max Muller?s Handbooks for the Study of Sanskrit.? Presumably it was to be an ongoing publication but in reality only the Hitopadesa was issued under his aegis. Having the English text right below the Sanskrit made the language, much in vogue at that time, much easier to learn. Part one is by far the thickest of the four parts as it was the volume for beginners. Unquestionably there were a great number of young scholars who were very happy to receive language lessons in this novel yet far easier format.

Seller Inventory # 76920

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The First [Second, Third and Fourth Book] of the Hitopadesa, containing the Sanskrit Text, with interlinear translation, grammatical analysis, and English translation.
• Publisher: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green 1864-65, London
• Publication Date: 1864