The Best 19th Century Hitopadesa in English

Johnson, Francis (translator).

Hitopadesa, the Sanskrit Text of the First Book, or Mitra-Labha, with a Grammatical Analysis, Alphabetically Arranged.

London: James Madden and Co., 1840. First edition. iii, 153 pages, plus a three-page scheme of poetic meters, and one page of ads. Small folio.

Johnson, a professor at the East-India College, edited this first part of the Hitopadesa (a collection of Sanskrit fables) as an introductory text for students learning the language. It includes the Sanskrit text, an English transliteration, an English translation, and a detailed dictionary of all the words used in the text.

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Johnson based his text on a Bonn edition of the Hitopadesa, remarking that the most recent English edition had gone out of print and that "its faults may be consigned to oblivion."

Johnson's Hitopadesa became a staple text and was reprinted with regularity into the 1920s. OCLC shows no holdings for the book. COPAC lists eight locations for this edition. Uncommon. Good or better in original paper-covered boards with a cloth spine. The printed spine label is badly worn and a handwritten label has been affixed below it. The corners are bumped and the front hinge is starting.

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