PIONEER OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH
FERDOWSI; James ATKINSON, translator.
Soohrab, a poem: freely translated from the original Persian of Firdousee; being a portion of the Shahnamu of that celebrated poet ... Published under the sanction of the College of Fort William.
Calcutta, printed by P. Pereira at the Hindoostanee Press, 1814.
8vo, pp. [6], xxv, [1], 154, [2, errata], 155-267, [3, errata and advertisements]; followed by duplicate copy of pp. 211-242; text in English followed by that in Persian (in double columns); light foxing throughout; a very good, wide-margined, uncut copy in modern half calf over cloth boards, gilt-lettered spine label; rear cover sunned at head; pencil inscription of A.G. Ellis to half-title.
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Soohrab, a poem: freely translated from the original Persian of Firdousee; being a portion of the Shahnamu of that celebrated poet ... Published under the sanction of the College of Fort William.
First edition, scarce on the market, of this pioneering English translation of part of the great Persian poet Ferdowsi’s epic poem the Shahnama, by the surgeon and oriental scholar Atkinson (1780-1852).
‘Atkinson’s Persian translations in both prose and verse are his chief title to fame, and of these his selections from the Shâh Nâmeh of Firdausi are the most notable. They were the first attempt to make the great Persian Epic of Kings familiar to English readers. He first published the episode of Sohrāb, in Persian with a free English translation, in 1814. In 1832 the Shāhnāmah: Abridgment and Selections, which included the earlier episode of Sohrāb, was published by the Oriental Translation Fund and was awarded its gold medal ... Accomplished in literature and art, both a scholar and a popular writer, James Atkinson was a pioneer of oriental research’ (ODNB).
Provenance: Alexander George Ellis (1858-1942), of the Royal Asiatic Society, who published several catalogues of the Arabic printed books and manuscripts at the British Museum.
