TRANSACTIONS 
OF THE 
ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY. 
I. Letters of Sir Wiri1am Jones to the late Samorr Darts, Esq., F.R.S., Sc. 
Jrom 1785 to 1794, chiefly relating to the Literature and Science of India, 
and elucidatory of the early History of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta. 
Communicated by Joun Francis Davis, Esq., F.R.S., M.R.A.S., §c. 
Read June 19, 1830. 
«= Tue following Collection of Letters was presented to the Royal Asiatic 
Society by John Francis Davis, Esq., son of the distinguished individual 
to whom they are addressed, and were read at several of the General 
Meetings of the Society, where they excited so much interest and at- 
tention, that the Council conceived they would prove acceptable to the 
members of the Society in general, as well as the public at large; and 
accordingly directed their insertion in the present volume of the Trans- 
actions. The letters themselves were evidently not intended for pub- 
lication ; but that circumstance only tends to render them more inte- 
resting to the general reader, inasmuch as the picture they draw of the 
ardent mind, indefatigable industry, and kindness of heart, of the talented 
and amiable writer, must be regarded as the genuine offspring of his 
immediate feelings; while the man of letters, and the critic, will be 
equally delighted with the information they contain on the wide topic 
of Eastern science, and the acuteness and talent they display in weigh- 
ing and duly estimating the various subjects submitted to his compre- 
hensive mind. Nor will the anecdotes scattered throughout the letters, 
of the early history of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, form their least 
attractive recommendation, to those readers who may still remember, 
with the fondness of early friendship, the individuals so honourably 
Vou. IIL B 
