iv 



It is evident that his anxiety to be off again on his travels prevented Csoma 

 pressing for permission to publish the vocabulary in 1834; itis, however, very strange 

 that, as far as we know, he made no effort in this direction during his second period 

 of residence in the Society's rooms. One would have thought that a man of his 

 capacity for work might have found time during these five years to give to the world 

 a work which had cost him such infinite pains to prepare. 



In the absence of any evidence to the contrarj^, it may be presumed that the 

 non-appearance of the vocabulary during Csoma's life-time was not owing to any 

 lack of encouragement on the part either of the Society or of Government. The 

 Society cannot, however, be so easily exonerated from the charge of having left 

 this precious document for so many years exposed to the risks of the Bengal climate, 

 not to mention the ravages of white-ants and fish insects. By good chance the 

 manuscript has suffered little or no damage from these sources; on the other hand, the 

 ink in which it is written has begun to fade very rapidly, and I have no doubt that 

 in a few years many pages will be illegible. 



The Present Edition of Csoma's Manuscript. 



The method adopted for our edition has been the following : — 



The Tibetan portion of the Manuscript needed little or no revision. With regard 

 to the Sanskrit in Roman character it has been necessary first of all to change the 

 transcription of Csoma to that adopted b^^ our Society, and here and there also to 

 correct the reading of the Sanskrit. 



It has also been necessary to make certain changes in the English translations. 

 No one perusing the vocabulary could fail to be struck hy the mastery which Csoma 

 had gained over this language. In nine cases out of ten his explanation has been 

 allowed to stand ; but there are nevertheless some surprising lapses for which it is 

 difficult to account having regard for the perfection and accuracy of the rest.' 



The manuscript, though a fair copy, can hardly be regarded as ready for printing: 

 for on every page we find what may be called tentative synonyms which, in passing 

 the book for the press, would not all have been allowed to remain. The editors have, 

 however, thought it proper in most cases to retain all these synonyms, because the)^ 

 offer valuable insight into the writer's mind and reveal the processes by which he 



' For example : "to take the religious character ' ' for " to enter the religious life " or " to take holy 

 orders." " Shame-faced " as synonymous with "modest." " Transcendal" for "Transcendent." 

 "Void from " for " devoid of." 



James Prinsep, writing to Government in 1833, says: "On the part of the Society I beg also to 

 tender my own services, in inspecting and correcting the English portion of the volume (i.e., the Dic- 

 tionary)." I suspect that his reports to Captain Kennedy must have undergone some revision at the 

 hands of an Englishman, for they are better written than many subsequent letters of Csoma. In the 

 Preface to the Dictionary Csoma says that " he gratefully acknowledges the favours which Mr. J. Prinsep, 

 present Secretary to the Asiatic Society, continues to confer on him, in correcting and smoothing the 

 English part of these works during their progress through the press." 



^ Rajendra Lai Mitra wrote in 1883: "from the general appearance of neatness and absence of 

 erasures, corrections and interlineations, it is evident that the volume is a fair copy." 



