Indian Fables From the Sanscrit of the Hitopadesa

Title

en_US Indian Fables From the Sanscrit of the Hitopadesa

Description

Florence Iacomb

Creator

en_US Iacomb, Florence See all items with this value

Contributor

en_US Tymms, W.R.

Date

2022-11-07T17:45:05Z

2022-09

en_US 1863

Date Available

2022-11-07T17:45:05Z

Date Issued

en_US 1863

Abstract

en_US "Exceptionally rare and delicate book in very good internal condition considering the age. I can find only one other worldwide for sale or sold." So the dealer wrote, and the book is indeed in very good condition. Strangely enough, I found two other copies in far less good condition for far less money soon after I ordered this copy. In fact, I was ready to order one of them when I noticed that it was the same book that we had already just acquired! The author's preface notes the work of Jones, Wilkins, and Johnson. Her purpose is to bring a small portion of the Hitopadesa to readers unacquainted with the work, in part through the illustrations she uses to present the first chapter, "On the Acquisition of Friends." Thick pages alternate with very thin. The twelve illustrated pages feature borders even more elaborate than those for text pages. The first illustration shows the crow espying a fowler walking towards him from a river with his net. The text has the usual beginning of Vishnu Sharma offering to teach the king's wayward sons. The second illustration, beautifully flanked by palm trees, illustrates a tiger finding a "golden bracelet," through which he will lure a traveler to his death. The third shows the troop of pigeons landed near the "Hiranyaka, the prince of mice." The next image shows how a jackal betrayed a deer, who was rescued by a crow. So it goes, through succeeding illustrations of cat and vulture; hunter, jackal, stag, and crow; tortoise, crow, and mouse; a mouse with two humans; the dead hunter whose bow killed the jackal who found him; the merchant's son who gave his wife away; the elephant lured into quicksand; and the three friends rescuing the caught tortoise from the hunter. This is a beautiful book, and I am happy to have found it! Not in Bodemann. Unpaginated. 7¾" x 9¾".

Identifier

en_US 13178 (Access ID)

uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10504/139355

Language

en_US eng

Publisher

en_US Day & Son:

en_US London

Subject

Hitopadesa See all items with this value