138 Bloclimaiin, — On a Silver Com of ShdhjaJidn II. [Jtjlt, 



neither can nor may do without it, but must have it copied. Then, though 

 Messrs. Brill of Leiden proposed to publish the work at their costs, I 

 think it very probable, that a contribution towards the expense of printing 

 ought to be paid, especially as we must insist on two points, 1st, that the 

 price of a volume of about 640 pages in 8vo. be not above S. 16 ; 2nd, that 

 the printing be execxited at the rate of 3 sheets of 16 pages per fort- 

 night. 



For these purposes a large sum of money is requisite. My learned 

 friends. Prof. Dozy, in his letter to Mr. H. W, Freeland, of Chichester 

 (printed in the Academy d. d. 27 Nov. 1875, p. 557), and Prof. Amari, in 

 his letter to M. de Gubernatis (printed in the Rivista Europea), having in- 

 voked the assistance of all who understand the importance of this publica- 

 tion for the promotion of science, I feel myself justified in appealing to 

 all who may deem the success of the enterprise an object worthy of their 

 support. The work of Tabari is truly a mine of useful information for the 

 historian. Even for pre-islamitic history it is not without value ; Prof. 

 Noldeke calls its history of the Sassanides " a very precious source." How 

 very highly Prof. Sprenger, the author of the Life and Doctrines of 

 Muhammad, esteems the work, appears from a passage in one of his letters 

 to me quoted by Prof. Dozy. Dr. Zotenberg says in his Preface, that es- 

 pecially for the history of the Omayades, the work of Tabari is the princi- 

 pal and richest source. The Russian historian M. Kunik deems the pub- 

 lication of this work of " the father of Muhammadan universal history" so 

 important, that he calls it a duty for the empire, which possesses the Cau- 

 casus and reigns on the Shores of the Caspian, to provide for a complete 

 edition of Tabari. 



The work is to be published in three parallel series, the first compris- 

 ing the pre-islamitic history, the life of Muhammad and the reign of the 

 four " righteous" Khalifas ; the second the history of the Omayades ; the 

 third that of the Abbasides. In order to bring the parts printed as soon 

 as possible into the hands of the student, it will be issued in half vo- 

 lumes of about 320 pages. Every year one half -volume of each series will 

 appear. 



M. J. De Goeje, 

 Professor of Arabic, Leiden University. 

 Leideis", Marcli 1876. 



Mr. BLOCHMAJsra" exhibited an ink impression of a silver coin of Shahja- 

 han II, received from General Cunningham, C. S. I, The legend is as 

 follows — 



Obverse — i | vr^ [ ^J^^ ] ^'ft 2*^-* C5J^^ jsl^^b i^JjUaj Is^ 



ReVEESE — ^^^rjj^ ^XJi>^s^| u^wi jj«.^Jl/eC>\*J;>c ,^_^^ Aa».| AX«» 



