[Signed] [First Edition] Autograph letter signed by...

JOLLY, Julius (1849-1932). Autograph letter signed to Reinhold Rost, concerning Sanskrit manuscripts, the Vishnu-smriti and a proposed new edition of Manu. Wurzburg, 30 May 1880. Single sheet folded, 125 x 200 mm, written in German on three sides and signed "J. Jolly". Old central fold, with a few small stains and marks, principally towards the lower margin. Very good. A scholarly letter from the German Indologist Julius Jolly to Reinhold Rost (1822-1896), Orientalist and librarian of the India Office Library, discussing the circulation and use of Sanskrit manuscripts between European scholars and collections. Jolly reports receiving manuscripts belonging to the Deccan College at Poona and explains his arrangements for passing manuscripts to fellow scholars. He refers to manuscripts lent to him through Rost, discusses the delayed printing of one of his Sanskrit texts, and writes of his continuing work on the Vishnu-smriti. Most notably, Jolly says that once he has completely finished the Vishnu-smriti he is seriously considering a new edition of the Manava Dharmasastra, or Manu. Anxious to avoid duplicating the work of other scholars, he recalls information received through Georg Buhler concerning manuscripts borrowed from the India Office by Theodor Aufrecht and asks Rost whether the India Office manuscripts might eventually be made available to him for his own new edition. He adds that Buhler has offered him access to rare printed material and numerous manuscripts at his disposal in India. Julius Jolly was a leading German scholar of Sanskrit and ancient Indian law. He taught Sanskrit at Wurzburg from 1873 and became professor of comparative linguistics and Sanskrit in 1877. His English translation of the Vishnu-smriti appeared as The Institutes of Vishnu in the Sacred Books of the East in 1880, the year of this letter. He later served as Tagore Professor of Law at Calcutta in 1882-83 and became particularly noted for his studies and editions of Sanskrit legal texts.

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