PREFACE. 
IX 
body of literature catalogued in these pages, but I have seen 
and studied specimens of the works of nearly all the nine 
hundred and fifty-two authors whose names are mentioned. 
Nor do I pretend to have understood all I have studied ; for 
many of the specimens are so difficult that it is hopeless to 
attempt their interpretation without the aid of a commentary, 
either oral or documentary. For this reason I do not 
• 
venture to call this book a formal History of Literature. The 
subject is too vast, and the present state of our knowledge is 
too limited to allow such a task to be attempted. I therefore 
only offer it as a collection of materials which will form a 
foundation upon which others more fortunate than I am, 
and with more time at their disposal than a Bengal District 
Collector, may build. 
Regarding the spelling of vernacular words, I have 
adhered to the system followed by Dr. Hoernle and myself 
in our Comparative Dictionary of the Bihari Language , to 
which the reader is referred for particulars. It may be 
briefly stated as spelling every word rigidly as it is pro¬ 
nounced. I have only deviated from this rule in the case of 
the names of a few living gentlemen, natives of India. On 
the principle that every one has a right to spell his own name 
as he likes, I have spelt their names as they sign themselves 
when writing in the English character. The chief difficulty 
experienced has been in the division of groups of words 
forming proper names. It has been found by no means an 
easy task to secure uniformity without leading to results 
which were too strange and too variant from actual use to 
be adopted. Present custom in this respect, though con¬ 
venient, has no system, and the adoption of any system 
