Page:History of Bengali Literature in the Nineteenth Century.djvu/157

This page needs to be proofread.

CAREY AND FOR? WILLIAM COLLEGE 133 1801 (8rd Ed. 1818.) Originally a part of the Bengali Grammar. The title varies slightly in different editions. (5) Ltihas-ma/a or a collection of stories in the Bengalee language collected from various sources. Seram- pore. Printed at the Mission Press. 1812. (4) A Dictionary of the Bengalee Language, in which words are traced to their origin and their meanings are given, in 2 vols. Vol. 1, 1815 (Vol. II, 1825). Vol I reprinted in 1818. The second volume is in 2 parts. All Bengali-English.' Printed at the Mission Press. Serampore. Carey’s enthusiasm for Bengali and his patient scholar- ship are nowhere displayed better than Scope 8100 impor- tance of Carey’s works. 1 his industrious compilation of the Bengali Grammar and the Bengali- English Dictionary. This was indeed the age of grammars and dictionaries, and the name of grammarians? and lexicographers who, after Carey, followed in the foot-steps of Halhed and Forster, is legion; but none of the works

  • Rev. Long in his Return of the Names and Writings of 515 Persons

connected. with Bengali Literature (p. 125) mentions among Carey's works a treatise or pamphlet called Letter toa Laskar. It seems that the Address to a Laskar, which was written not by Carey but by Pearce of Birmingham, was translated by Carey (see E. Carey, op, cit. p- 463; also Murdoch, Catalogue of Christian Vernacular Litera- ture of India, p.5) Carey also wrote other missionary tracts which it is not necessary to mention here.

  • The first Rengali Grammar by a native grammarian is said to be

that by Gahga Kisor Bhattacharya, written in the form of a dialogue. It was published in 1816 (Long, Catalogue). This date seems to be incorrect. We find the first annoucement of this work in the Samachar Darpan (Oct. 3, 1818) from which it woula appear, in the first place, that the book was published about 1818; and secondly, that it was not only a grammar but a compendium of miscellaneous information and that the portion dealing with grammar did not relate to Bengali language but that it was an English Grammar in Bengali. See my article in Batgiya Sahitya Parigat Patrika, vol. xxiv, p. 154.