The Vishnu Purana, a System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition, Translated from the Original Sanscrit, and Illustrated by Notes Derived Chiefly from Other Puranas

xci, [1], 704, [1] pp. 13 1/8 x 10 1/2. Preface provides historical and cultural context, as well as commentary on Wilson's choices as a translator, extensive index follows text. The first English translation of this work, which was the first Purana to be translated, and among the earliest major works of Hindu culture to appear in English. Includes the legend of Krishna, discussion of Buddha, details of Vedic cosmology, and Hindu conception of the world's end. The translator, H.H. Wilson, was an English orientalist, the first Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University, and superintendent of studies at the Sanskrit College in Calcutta. "In 1808 he was appointed as assistant surgeon to the East India Company, and arrived in Calcutta in March 1809. During the voyage to Calcutta, Wilson studied the Hindustani language with an Indian fellow passenger. Shortly after his arrival in Calcutta, the linguist Dr John Leyden, who had recently published on the languages and literature of the Indo-Chinese nations, and who held the position of assay master for the Calcutta mint, recruited Wilson as his assistant. Wilson himself devoted much of his attention to the study of Indian languages, especially Sanskrit. In 1811 he became the secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, upon the recommendation of the distinguished Sanskrit scholar Henry Colebrooke. During his twenty-one-year tenure as secretary, he assiduously promoted Indological learning, acquisition of Indian texts for the Asiatic Society Library, and interactions between English orientalists and Indian intellectuals in Calcutta. He published a number of scholarly papers in its journal, Asiatic Researches. In 1816 Wilson was appointed assay master at Calcutta, a position he held during the rest of his stay in India. In 1819 he was sent by the government to Benares to reorganize the Sanskrit College, which at that time received patronage support from the East India Company. In addition to his official duties at the Calcutta mint and his scholarly activities, Wilson was an active leader and actor in the Calcutta Theatre. During the 1820s Wilson served in a number of capacities in the development of oriental learning and education for native Indian young men. He served on the boards of the School Book Society and Hindu College, and he was for many years the secretary for public instruction, Calcutta. He advocated a merger of Western science, English language, and traditional Indian subjects as part of an integrated curriculum at Hindu College. He opposed any required Christian religious instruction, a position that brought him into conflict with Alexander Duff and many missionaries of evangelical persuasion. He was a significant opponent of William Bentinck's 1829 measure to abolish suttee. These scholarly and educational roles led Wilson into close and frequent contact with Calcutta's Hindu elites who advocated support for traditional learning. Historians have frequently perceived Wilson as one of the leading orientalists who advocated an interaction between Western and traditional Indian forms of learning. These orientalists were opposed by Anglicists, the most influential of whom was Thomas Babbington Macaulay, who resisted company support for traditional Indian education on the grounds that such learning contained no useful knowledge that would merit company patronage. Wilson is not, however, so easily classified. Although he advocated traditional learning, he also believed in the potential benevolence of British rule in improving the state of Hindu culture through gradual reclamation of its noble past. While he was profoundly respectful of Indian learning and literature, he had no doubts of the superiority of Western culture. In 1832 Wilson was appointed to the first professorship in Sanskrit at Oxford University, which was established through a bequest from Joseph Boden. Boden's bequest was for a professorship that would equip Christian scholars to communicate the gospel in the language of Hinduism's literati. Wilson's election by the Oxford University convocation was close, as some had opposed his appointment; they argued that his association with the theatre in Calcutta (and the class and morals of persons it attracted) and his close ties with Hindu orthodox leaders rendered him insufficiently imbued with Christian enthusiasm. However, his acknowledged virtuosity in the study of the Sanskrit language and his sufficiently establishment theological views prevailed. He left India to take up his duties at Oxford in 1833. Wilson and his family lived in Oxford for three years, but then moved to London when he took over the duties of librarian at East India House, succeeding Sir Charles Wilkins. Wilson held that position for twenty-four years until his death. During his tenure Wilson supervised the cataloguing of major collections, most notably the Colin MacKenzie collection of Indic manuscripts, and systematically arranged the materials for subsequent use by scholars and colonial administrators. During this period he continued his scholarly pursuits: he retained his professorship until his death in 1860, visiting Oxford for a part of each term; he also served as an examiner in Indian languages at the East India Company's training college at Haileybury, and as director of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1837 until his death. He was elected fellow of the Royal Society in 1834. Wilson wrote extensively on subjects of Sanskrit literature, Hindu religion, and Indian history. His principal works include: The Cloud Messenger (a translation of Kalidasa's Meghadhuta) (1813), a Sanskrit - English Dictionary (1819; rev. edn, 1831) and an introduction to Sanskrit grammar (1855), Select Specimens of the Theatre of the Hindus (2 vols., 1826 - 7), a translation of the Samkhya karika of Isavarakrnsa (1837), The Vishnu Purana: a System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition (1840), Lectures on the Religious and Philosophical Systems of the Hindus (1840), Sketch of the Religious Sects of the Hindus (1846), and various volumes of collected essays and occasional translations. He had begun a translation of the Rig-Veda (1850), but died before it was completed. Wilson's legacy may be assessed in two contexts: his scholarship and his leadership. In the area of his scholarship, his writings and translations were pioneering efforts by one who had no formal scholarly training, as none was available at the time. During his lifetime his writings were widely read and influential among scholarly and public audiences interested in India, though later generations would far surpass his accomplishments in the area of Sanskrit grammar and translation. In the area of intellectual leadership he carefully and effectively crafted three major institutions: the Asiatic Society of Bengal, the East India Company Library, and the Royal Asiatic Society. He enjoyed the high regard of his peers and superiors within the East India Company and Oxford University. At the same time he maintained respectful and cordial relations with the Hindu cognoscenti in Calcutta. His students and colleagues, especially Frederich Max Muller and Monier Monier-Williams, held him in high esteem for the depth of his knowledge and his consistent efforts at promoting the study of India." - Oxford Dictionary of National Biography