Re: pali books in sinhalese script from BPS

On 02/10/05, rett <rett@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Bhante Nyanatusita,
>
> Thanks for the interesting info and the tip about BPS bookshop. As an
> odd coincidence, just this week I ran across (the first I've seen) a
> used volume of the Hevavitarane edition of the commentaries (to the
> Udaana). It's one of Helmer Smith's many old books that are in the
> shops these days in Sweden. I can see why this edition is regarded
> highly.
>
> How did Helmer's books come on the market? Shouldn't they not be in a
> university library?


  You asked about what sorts of texts I'm looking for. Well, everything
> really, but for the moment, apart from grammatical literature like
> Saddaniiti etc, I'm interested in titles like:
>
> mahaava.msa
> mahaava.msa.tiika
> va.msatthakathaa (same as above?)
>
> dhammapadatthaka (I have gunasena's but it's falling apart)
>
> upaasakajanaalankaara
>
> dasa(daana)vatthuppaakara.na
> rasavaahinii.tiika (not the basic text)
> siiha.lavatthuppakara.na <http://siiha.lavatthuppakara.na>
>
> And of course good editions of the canon, and suttapi.taka in
> particular, are the most central texts. A lot depends on the prices,
> as I'm sure you can imagine.
>
> > The BPS is preparing a list for you. They have most of the Hevavitarane
> books at cheap rates, ie, rs. 100-200 (US 1-2) each. I will arrange for some
> other books to be ordered from other publishers.
>
> I'll start of course by contacting BPS directly, but also appreciate
> your offer to help facilitate book purchases if they don't have
> certain titles in stock. It makes sense that they would be easiest to
> order from, as I guess they are used to international orders. Are you
> directly connected with BPS?
>
> > I am the organiser and editor of the English section of the BPS. Better
> contact me directly because contacting the BPS can be very slow and
> complicated in a case like this. They are good at sending international
> orders.
>
>
> >There are many old editions of Pali texts
> >sitting in dusty (monastery) libraries here which could be digitally
> >scanned or photographed and made available on the internet.
>
> This sounds very interesting, as does the similar idea with
> manuscripts (like suttanipata-sanne). Hosting would also be an issue,
> I suppose, since high quality images would take a lot of space and
> cost in terms of bandwidth for downloads. I suppose they could also
> be put onto CD-roms. I'll ask around to see if any of the (few,
> unfortunately) people I know in a position to donate would be
> interested. Perhaps someone could put together a 'teaser'. A few
> pages of high-res manuscript photos, for example, just enough to show
> people what you had in mind. I'm a firm believer in preserving rare
> manuscripts with photography.
>
> > So am I. Rupert Gethin asked me to make a copy of two Abhidhamma books
> recently and this was a good opportunity to bring this up with him. He seems
> to be interested and will bring it up with the PTS council. The problem
> with manuscripts of course is that there are so many, and many of these will
> not be worthwhile to be photographed. It takes an expert to see whether a
> manuscript is worthwhile or not. Where to start? The Colombo Museum or the
> Peradeniya University collections would be good starts. One also has to deal
> with xenophobic and nationalistic sentiments which are common here and be
> careful to get the local authorities interested and on one's side.
>
> I was about to send you my list of Pali literature and an article on Khom
> script MSS in Sri Lanka but then my computer got infected with worms and now
> my email manager is down. I will send them soon.
>
  Yours sincerely,
>
> Bh. Nyanatusita
>
  Forest Hermitage
Udawattakele
PO Box 61
Kandy
Sri Lanka


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