I apologize to the group for my last e-mail. I was very tired
and busy. I wrote in rather harsh terms. Back to meditation:)
Best,
justin
---- Original message ----
>Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 17:07:03 +0700
>From: "Eisel Mazard" <Parajanaka@...>
>Subject: [palistudy] Rare Pali editions at the EFEO, Vientiane
>To: palistudy@yahoogroups.com, "David Wharton"
<davidwharton@...>, "Michel Lorrillard"
<lorrilla@...>
>
>I spent about three hours at the E.F.E.O. library in
Vientiane, today,
>and I have the following observations on some of the rare Pali
>editions in their stores. Generally, I am delighted that such
>resources exist in Vientiane; the E.F.E.O. has a basic but
important
>collection of the fundamental textbooks for Pali (yes,
including A.K.
>Warder) available to the public --this is likely the only public
>institution with such books in Laos, as the National
University no
>longer has anything on Pali (I am told) and the Sangha College is
>closed to the public.
>
>(1) Contrary to earlier statements by Dr. Justin McDaniel, I
observe
>that at least three volumes of the (ill-fated) Luang Phabang
edition
>of the Tipitaka were printed. As I wrote in 2005, I have strong
>reason to suspect that the complete text was prepared, and at
least a
>single copy was published of most/all volumes of the
Tipitaka. Last
>year I reported in some detail the edition I "discovered" in
Luang
>Phabang (but could not lay my hands upon) and its
binding/covers were
>identical to the three volumes now found at the E.F.E.O.
This is,
>again, an odd contradiction of the descriptions I've been
sent (of the
>binding) from Dr. McDaniel.
>
>The E.F.E.O. has the following on the shelves:
> - V.P. Mahaa-Vibha'nga 1 (viz., the text McDaniel
already attested to?)
> - S.P. D.N. Vol. 1 (printed in the same year)
> - A.P. Dhammasa'nga.ni Vol. 1 (printed in the same year)
>
>Thus, at a minimum, the first volume of each Pitaka was
simultaneously
>printed in this edition. All of these are publications of
>photo-duplicated hand-written Pali text in Lao-Tham script, with
>occasional footnotes on textual variations. The density of
text per
>page is low, and the script is clear and legible (but not very
>beautiful). The heraldic seal of the royal family of Luang
Phabang is
>featured on the cover, title-page, etc. (viz. a three-headed
elephant
>bearing the wheel of the dhamma).
>
>The yellow, hard-bound volumes are each wrapped in a white
paper cover
>with blue (Lao-Tham) text on the spine --i.e., identical to the
>(complete?) edition I spotted at Luang Phabang. As the
binding seemed
>incorrect to him at the time, McDaniel suggested (in response
to my
>initial observation) that this might just be a non-Lao
edition wrapped
>in a Lao cover. I would now tend to re-affirm my earlier
speculation
>that at least an early "proof" was completed of all volumes
and kept
>at the palace --where it remains.
>
>(2) It seems that the sequel to Maha Silaviravong's work on Pali
>orthography/grammar did emerge: the EFEO has a Xerox copy of
a very
>tiny volume (pocket-sized) that is apparently the promised
"Second
>Part" of the better-known (and reprinted in 1996) work on the
>1933-standard Lao-Pali script (*not* Lao-Tham). This book
declares
>itself as a grammar, but, like the volume that preceded it, I
will
>remember it mostly for its typography; it is an extremely
brief and
>incomplete grammar.
>
>(3) The E.F.E.O. has the complete set of the (more commonly seen)
>texts titled "hLak-sutra-hyan-bali", i.e., numbered exercises for
>learning Pali. These are the large, sloppy-looking texts
reproduced
>from hand-written facsimiles of 1933-75 standard Lao-Pali script
>(*not* Lao-Tham) and pre-revolution spellings in the Lao text
>throughout.
>
>(4) Of considerably more interest than the above is a tiny
book (or
>pamphlet) titled "béb-hyan-bali", providing a similarly brief
overview
>of orthography and grammar, but with really excellent Lao-Tham
>handwriting, and charts comparing it to both Burmese & Khom/Khmer
>script --as well as occasional French and Romanization
provided, e.g.,
>for grammatical terminology.
>
>E.M.
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
909-827-4530
justinm@...