The Works of Sir William Jones
With the Life of the Author by Lord Teignmouth

The complete thirteen-volume works, with memoir, of the orientalist and poet Sir William Jones (1746–94), first published in 1807.

William Jones (Author), Lord Teignmouth (Edited by)

9781108055772, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 March 2013

562 pages, 11 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 3.2 cm, 0.71 kg

A renowned Enlightenment polymath, Sir William Jones (1746–94) was a lawyer, translator and poet who wrote authoritatively on politics, comparative linguistics and oriental literature. Known initially for his Persian translations and political radicalism, Jones became further celebrated for his study and translation of ancient Sanskrit texts following his appointment to the supreme court in Calcutta in 1783. He spent the next eleven years introducing Europe to the mysticism and rationality of Hinduism through works such as his nine 'Hymns' to Hindu deities and his translation of the Sanskrit classic Sacontalá. Volume 9 of his thirteen-volume works, published in 1807, contains Jones' translation of the Speeches of Isaeus (1779) and perhaps his most influential translation, Sacontalá (1789), a Hindu love fable that explores the depths of Hindu mythology and philosophy. Lauded throughout Europe, Sacontalá would inspire Goethe to write that once it is mentioned, 'everything is said'.

Part I. The Speeches of Isaeus in Causes Concerning the Law of Succession at Athens: Epistle dedicatory
Prefatory discourse
Attick laws
1. On the estate of Cleoymus
2. On the estate of Pyrrhus
3. On the estate of Nicostratus
4. On the estate of Dicaeogenes
5. On the estate of Philoctemon
6. On the estate of Apollodorus
7. On the estate of Ciron
8. On the estate of Astyphlus
9. On the estate of Aristarchus
10. On the estate of Hagnias
Fragments of Isaeus
Notes on Isaeus
A commentary on Isaeus
Part II. Sacontala
or, The Fatal Ring.

Subject Areas: Asian history [HBJF]