J 862.] Literary Intelligence. 51 



Literary Intelligence. 



Our oriental readers will recollect that, in the October Meeting, 

 the Society accepted Dr. Fitz-Edward Hall's offer to publish in the 

 Bibliotheca Indica, a fragment of the very rare Natya S'astra of Bha- 

 rata, — a work, which, though frequently quoted by mediaeval scholi- 

 asts, had never before been met with by any European, and of which 

 Professor Wilson had even doubted the very existence. " As far as 

 has been ascertained, the work of Bharata has no existence in an 

 entire shape, and it may be sometimes doubted whether the rules 

 attributed to him are not fabricated for the occasion."* Dr. Hall, 

 however, had been fortunate enough to discover a fragment of this 

 singular production, containing the first seven adhyayas, and as many 

 of the quotations in the scholiasts could be verified in them, any 

 doubts as to the existence of the original work were of course at once 

 set at rest. 



Unfortunately this fragment was very corrupt and it abounded 

 with hiatuses and doubtful readings. Dr. Hall has just written to us, 

 previous to his departure via. Bombay to England, the following in- 

 teresting intelligence from Bhelsa : 



" Going into the city to-day (Feb. 21) to read an old inscription, I 

 was accosted by a very intelligent looking pundit. We chatted on for 

 an hour or so, and I discovered that he had a MS. of Bharata. Fie 

 has given it to me. It contains 277 leaves, — the entire work in 36 

 adhyayas, and was written in Samvat 1575." 



Bharata appears to have written a complete Ars Poetica, and he 

 has discussed at great length the theory of the poetical sentiments, 

 &c, as well as the various parts of the dramatic art. On the whole, 

 we consider Dr. Hall's discovery one of the most curious made of late 

 in old Indian literature. 



The following is an extract from a letter dated 31st May last 

 addressed to Babu Bajendra Lai Mitra by Professor Holmboe of 

 Christiana. 



" Je vous envoie avec cette lettre quatre memoires, qui ont ete lus 

 dans notre societe de sciences, dont j'ai l'honneur d'etre le president 



* Hindu Drama, Vol. 1. p. xx. 



H 2 



