Wilson, Horace Hayman.
Select Specimens of the Theatre of the Hindus Translated from the Original Sanskrit.
London: Trübner & Co., 1871. Third edition. Octavo. lxxi, 384; iv, 415 plus errata leaf. Published as volumes XI and XII of Wilson's Works (noted on a second title-page). Wilson (1786-1860) was a physician who served in India with the British East India Company beginning in 1808. He became fascinated with Sanskrit language and culture and translated many texts and helped to compile a Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1819). In 1826–27, in Calcutta, he published a collection of Sanskrit plays in English. A corrected second edition appeared in London in 1835. This third edition comprises the final two volumes of Wilson's collected works, published posthumously.
$300
These volumes print six plays in their entirety for the first time in English: "The Toy-Cart," "The Hero and the Nymph," "Continuation of the History of Rama," "The Stolen Marriage," "The Signet of the Minister," and "The Necklace." Wilson also appended summaries of 23 other plays to the end of the second volume.
Select Specimens is one of the most notable anthologies of Sanskrit plays in English, and it has been reprinted many times, most recently in New Delhi by the Asian Educational Service.
Uncommon. Publisher's cloth binding with an image of Ganesha in gilt, rebacked with new spines stamped in gilt. Corners worn. New endpapers. Old library blindstamp on title-pages and some penciled cataloguing notes on the verso of the title-page. No other library markings. A very presentable set.
$300
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