718 Literary Intelligence. [No. 7. 



was agreed to specify the number, material, form, binding, number of 

 pages and contents of each volume, and to notice any obvious lacunae 

 of the text or other deficiences, appending at the same time a sys- 

 tematic table of contents, and a doable index of authors and works, 

 alphabetically arranged. 



Dr. Eoer has kindly drawn up from Dr. Weber's introduction 

 the following sketch of the growth of the Sanskrit collection in this 

 library. 



" The first purchases in the Sanskrit department were made by 

 the late Professor Wilkens, the immediate predecessor in office of 

 Dr. Pertz, who bought in 1827 several MSS. which were formerly 

 in the possession of the Serampore College and had been acquired 

 by Professor Bernstein during his stay in England, viz. Nos. 456, 

 463 and 485 (three Puranas) 831 and 838 (arithmetic and astro- 

 nomy), 1335 (prayers) and 409 (Bhagavadgita). During his visit 

 in England in 1829, Wilkens purchased through Messrs. Trenttel and 

 Wurz, for £400, a collection, consisting of 205 Arabic and Persian 

 and of 16 Sanskrit MSS. made by J. Murray since 1796 : and in 

 1834 he was fortunate enough to acquire, by the mediation of 

 Er. Eosen, at the comparatively moderate cost of £105, a fine MS. 

 of the Mahabharata, including the Harivansa, with several commenta- 

 ries, in 9 vols, folio, (Nos. 392 to 400) : the latter formerly belonged 

 to Sir Gr. Haughton. 



" The Chambers' collection forms the most valuable part of this 

 section of the Eoyal Library MSS. Dr. Pertz thus details the 

 history of its acquisition. 



" ' This valuable collection was made in India during the last 

 quarter of the 18th century. Sir E. Chambers, an eminent man of 

 thorough and various attainments, collected during his residence in 

 Calcutta from 1774 to 1799, an Indian Library of great importance, 

 and acquired, at a cost of £25,000, it is said, a great number of 

 MSS. unparalleled as regarded Vedic literature and containing many 

 important works in other branches of Sanskrit literature. Eroin 

 the papers, added to this collection, it appears, that soon after his 

 arrival in India, he entered into communication with distinguished 

 native scholars ; thus he consulted pandit Mana Krishna, Tripatti on 

 the Veda literature, on the Sama Veda, Ananta Eamaraja, on the 



