Dear Members,
For some time I've been interested in learning more about the origins and
developments of Western (European) interest in the Sanskrit and Pali
languages and the publication of grammars and dictionaries written for a
Western-educated audience. Much information can be gathered from the
prefaces of these books and I have started reading through some of these
starting with H.T. Colebrooke's Preface to his 1805 Sanskrit grammar (Vol.
II was never published according to Wilson). I find that quite a number of
such grammars were published throughout the 19th cent. Sometime later I'd
like to get started in the same way with Pali works of the same type.
I find all this to be a very interesting and worthwhile area of research
which touches on many aspects such as author biography, how the British came
to dominate India, and the motives for undertaking the study of Sanskrit
and/or Pali and publishing works on these.
Does anyone here know if there exists any scholarly work or article on the
history of Pali and/or Sanskrit grammars, dictionaries and other study aids
in European languages? This can include translations of native grammatical
and lexical texts.
I certainly don't know of any.
Best wishes,
Jm