Re: kaccayana french version

Hi Rett,

> I ordered it immediately when I saw that it had come up. I hope I
> haven't stepped on anyone's toes by doing so. It was a heck of a
> splurge, but I am planning to put some serious time into pali
> vyakarana over the next year(s) so I thought it was worth it.

Thanks for explaining how Senart's ed. disappeared off the shelf so
quickly! Puzzle solved! I'm delighted that you will have a copy of
this rare book. I bet it'll be a long time before another one like it
shows up on abebooks again, if ever. It's a good investment. As far as
I know, this is probably the only European ed. and transl. to come out
so far. It would be great if you could give a description of the book
after you get it (condition, contents, etc.).

> I'm looking into getting access to a digital copier and I'll be
happy
> to send copies to people on the list, or perhaps to send a master
> copy to Jim which he can distribute in the states while I distribute
> in Eurasia. Since the book is long out of print I don't believe
there
> are any copyright issues involved. If has better information on that
> subject please let me know.

I don't think copyright should be an issue as it's so old (133
years!). Perhaps the PTS might be interested in reprinting it like the
way they did H. Smith's Saddaniiti. I'm really surprised that until
recently the PTS had never published Pali grammatical texts before
which in my opinion are absolutely essential for the correct
understanding of Pali.

I'd be happy to have a copy and make copies for others in North
America who are interested in studying Pali. Since I live in the
backwoods far from town it may take a while to get a copy out. I have
the same idea about other such rare and out-of-print grammatical texts
as well. I think this kind of effort plays an important part in
promoting and encouraging serious interest in Pali learning. I wonder
how much trouble it would be to make a digital copy of Senart's book
with a scanner using the OCR software which can turn print into
digital characters? I have a scanner but find it doesn't work too well
with Pali as it can't read the special characters, however, it might
work with French. Perhaps, this could be done a small section at a
time as we slowly make our way through Kaccayana.

Best wishes,
Jim