[Mullens, Hannah Catherine]
Prasanna and Kamini: The History of a Young Hindu.
London: Religious Tract Society, (n.d. but ca. 1885). First edition of this version (see below). Small 8vo. 191 pages, plus 16 pages of ads.
Illustrated with four engraved plates, including a frontispiece of a baptism taking place in the Ganges River.
Mullens was a missionary based in Calcutta during the middle of the nineteenth century (she died in 1861), and is perhaps most notable for writing the first novel ever published in Bengali (Phulmani and Karuna, 1852). This is Mullens' second novel extolling the virtues of Christian women in India, originally published as Faith and Victory: A Story of the Progress of Christianity in Bengal (London, 1865) and as Life By the Ganges (Philadelphia, 1867). The novel was then loosely adapted for publication in Bengali, with many changes apparently to make it more palatable for the local population. Prasanna and Kamini is Faith and Victory re-translated from Bengali back into English, with further amendments for an English-speaking audience. (I think there's a thesis in textual studies in there somewhere.)
A scarce work, with just one copy in OCLC (none in the US) and just three in COPAC. (Reference: Tilottoma Misra, "Early Asamiya Novels" in Early Novels in India by Meenakshi Mukherjee). A lovely copy in the publisher's binding decorated with a spray of flowers printed in colors and the title in gilt. Fine, but for a gift inscription dated 1885 (which helps confirm the publication date).
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