Papers Relating to the Collection and Preservation of the Records of Ancient Sanskṛit Literature in India

About The Book : Your Excellency has issued orders for collecting the catalogues of Sanskrit, Arabic, and Persian books in existence in many parts of India. There are two things which would complete the information so much desired by the Oriental scholars of Europe and Asia. The Sanskrit list will necessarily remain incomplete unless it contains the names of the books that are in the libraries of the Maharajas of Jaypur and Nepal. The rarest books were collected by the liberal ancestors of the former, from the time of Raja Man Sinh; and as the latter country has never been under the subjection of Mahomedans, the oldest Sanskrit books are to be found there. A similar thing may be done with regard to the Sanskrit books that are in the great libraries of England, Germany, France, and other Continental countries of Europe. A list of these books should be published in English and Sanskrit; and anything that Your Excellency is pleased to order for the furtherance of the cause of learning, will be highly and gratefully appreciated by the scholars both of Europe and India. I know of no Native scholar possessed of the requisite learning, accuracy, and persistent energy. I know of no European scholar in India possessed of the requisite time, or who might not be more usefully employed in making original researches.