xxxn INTEODUCTIO.
of manuscripts, th e existence of which had remained unknown
to us. The lib ra ry of the Asiatic Society of Bengal a t Calcutta
possesses a valuable fragmen t of tb e first volume, which was
le n t to us with th e g re a te st lib e ra lity , ilo n g with tbe ms.
we received a copy of it, which Prof. Blocbmann, an tic ip a tin g
our request, had caused to be made for our use. Sir William
Miiir very k indly p e rm itted us to make use of bis beautiful
manuscript of tb a t p a rt of T ab a ri which contains th e life of
tb e Pro p h e t. Prof. Wetz stein called my a tten tio n to two
manuscripts, which had been b ro u g h t by him to Europe,
an d which he believed to contain parts of Tabari. One of
tbese is a t pre sen t in Berlin, tb e o th e r in Tü b in g en . On
examination, tb e opinion of Prof. W. proved to be tru e . The
Berlin ms. contains tb e reign of Abu Bekr, th e Tübingen
ms. p a rt of th e h is to ry of th e p a tria rch s and tb e period of
th e Sasanides. Both are valuable for th e re sto ra tio n of the
tex t. Our hope of finding a fragmen t in the lib ra ry of th e la te
Sir T. Ph illip p s a t Cheltenham was disappointed. M. Neubauer
of Oxford k in d ly undertook tbe examination of th e manuscript
in question, b u t found it to contain a p a rt of th e P e rsian
compendium. M. von Kremer acquired no t lo n g ago a very
old manuscript, con tain in g e ith e r a historical work of Tab ari
himself, or a supplement to his annals. An obitu ary of illustrious
men occupies a prominent place in it. Tbe pre sen t owner,
who takes a warm in te re st in th e publication of Tabari, has
promised to send it to me for inspection, in order to see
how fa r it can be of use in tb e prep aratio n of th e te x t of
th e Annals. M. Alexander (Isk en d e r Agba) Abcarius of Beyroot,
well known by his various publications, wrote to me th a t
Em ir Abbas Kanij of Mount Lebanon possessed th e second
volume of Tabari, b eg in n in g with tb e y e a r A. BL. 70 or
th e re ab o u t and ending, so far as he could remember, with
th e y e a r 340. As he had borrowed it many years ago for
th e Eev. E li Smith, he th o u g h t he could borrow it again,
and offered to g e t it copied for me, if I should wish it. Of
course I accepted th is offer with g re a t joy, provided the
volume should contain p a rt of th e genuine te x t, of which I
e n te rta in ed some doubts. M. Abcarius h av in g been disappointed
in his hope of borrowing th e ms., I adressed myself to Dr.
M. H artmann, of the Imperia l German Consulate a t Beyroot,
who succeeded in ex amin in g an d describing it for me. I t
contains th e th ird volume of th e Arabic tran sla tio n of the
P ersian Tab ari by K b id h r ibn Khidhr, who finished his work
in th e b eg in n in g of A. D. 1533. Tbe second volume of tbe
same tran sla tio n , and perhaps of tb e same copy, is in the
Un iv ersity lib ra ry of Leiden (Catal. I I , p. 149).
As th e study of tb e te x t proceeded, it became manifest,
th a t some portions of th e work were too extensive for tbe
persons to whom they bad been allo tted . Wo therefore resolved,
a t a meeting of tbe collaborators a t Tübingen, to invite th re e
more Orientalists to jo in our committee. Prof. P rym , M. Ignazio
Guidi and M. Stanislas Guyard, all of whom gladly complied
with our request. The preparation of th e te x t is now apportioned
as fo llow s:
INTRODUCTIO. XXXI I I
1®' Series.
Dr. J . Barth of Berlin.
Prof. Th. Nöldeke of Strassbiirg.
Prof. 0 . Loth of Leipzig.
Prof. E. Prym of Bonn.
Introduction, history of the patriarehs, prophets
and early k in g s .............................., .
Period of the Sasanides .....................................
Life of M o h am m e d ...........................................
Keign of the four „righteous” Khalifas. .
2^ Series.
History of the Omaiyades, A .H . 40— 65. Prof. H. Thorbecke of Heidelberg.
» n >, H „ 65— 99. M. I. Guidi of Rome.
. . « . 100— 130. Dr. Ü. H. Müller of Vienna.
3<1 Series.
H is to ry of the Ahhasides, A. H. 131—169. Dr. Max Grünert of Prague,
» » „ „ 159—318. M. Stanislas Guyard of Paris.
» „ „ n „ 21 8—303. Prof. M. J . De Goeje of Leiden.
A t the same meeting we agreed upon tb e method of p re p
arin g tb e te x t and th e manner of publishing tb e work. As
3