Treatise on Indian society, circa 1810.

Format:

Manuscript

Contributor:

Dubois, J. A. (Jean Antoine), 1765-1848.

Dr. Craig Baxter Memorial Fund.

Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

India--Social life and customs--19th century.

India.

India--Religion.

India--Civlization.

Genre:

Treatises.

Manuscripts, English -- 19th century.

Penn Provenance:

Sold at auction at Forum Auctions (London), 2017, lot 388.

Physical Description:

1 item (38 bifolia)

Contained In:

Miscellaneous Manuscripts. Box 23 Folder 42

Place of Publication:

circa 1810.

Summary:

A partial, handwritten, unbound manuscript regarding Indian society. The manuscript consists of thirty-eight bifolia with pages numbered 9 to 160. It was written around 1810 by an unnamed author. The manuscript provides observations of society in India including Hindu life, ceremonies, the four states of Brahmins, and societal customs and rules. The treatise is divided into parts and chapters with headings for each division. This manuscript may have been a partial translation from the French manuscript by Jean Antoine Dubois who was a French Catholic missionary in India. Dubois's manuscript on Indian life was purchased by Lord William Bentinck for the East India Company in 1807 and the English translation entitled Hindu manners, customs, and ceremonies was published in 1816. This incomplete manuscript contains strikingly, similar chapter headings and divisions. There are annotations in the manuscript referring to the meaning of some items by the original author. Part 1, chapters 1-8 are lacking. A watermark: S. Wise & Patch 1809. The first two bifolia have tears.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Dr. Craig Baxter Memorial Fund.

OCLC:

1049935851