r a T K O D U C Ï lO .
and of th e distinguished Hindoo scholar R a jen d ra la la Mitra
to Prof. Sprenger, we had hoped to find a comparatively
la rg e number of subscribers in In d ia , b u t by th e death of
Prof. Blocbmann, who took a most warm in te re s t in our
u n d e rtak in g , tb e correspondanee with In d ia has been broken
off. Under these circumstances we have, b y th e advice of
Mr. A. Grote, adressed ourselves for information and support
to Major Wate rhouse, R. A., S e c re ta ry of th e Asiatic Society
of Bengal. F o r th e T ab a ri fund we have received from the
Government of the N e th e rlan d s a second contribution of 1500
g u ild e rs; from th e Royal Academy of Berlin, for tb e second
time, 3000 m a rk s ; and from Mr. David Murray, of Adelaide,
South Australia, th ro u g h Prof. W rig h t, a fresh g ift of £ 10.
A t a me e tin g of th e collaborators Prof. Nöldeke expressed
th e wish, tb a t each of us should publish, if possible, a mono
g rap h on th a t p a rt of bistoTy, which was tre a ted in his
portion of Tabari. To set the example, he has tran sla ted
T a b a ri’s h is to ry of th e Sasanides, w ith copious annotations,
co n ta in in g th e substance of other n a rra tiv e s an d his own critical
remarks. This work is now b e in g p rin ted by Mess"® Brill.
The half-volume now published is by no means th e most
im p o rtan t p a rt of T ab a ri’s Annals. However, it is n o t altog
e th e r devoid of in te re s t to le a rn exa c tly how th e Moslem
doctors of th e first centuries imagined to themselves th e
h is to ry of early times, and to become acquainted with th e
pro p ag atio n of tho Jewish doctrines, of which tb e Moslem
trad itio n has perhaps preserved some features unknown to
us from oth er sources. We le a rn from tho au th o r’s preface
th a t he in ten d ed to give a t th e end of th e Annals a Supplement
co n ta in in g th e critical apparatus, viz. »the names
and surnames, th e genealogy, th e age, and th e y e a r and
place of death, firstly of th e companions of tb e prophet,
secondly of th e ir followers, and th ird ly of th e learn ed tra -
ditionists who tran sm itted th e ir lore, th a t tho re ad e r might
know, wherefore tbe trad itio n s of some have been rejected,
XXXIX
of others admitted, and why of th e la tte r one portion has
been considered as tru th fu l, and an o th e r as of weak au th o r
ity ” . We know th a t Tab ari k ep t bis promise and n o t only
published th e Supplement, b u t added afterwards an Appendix
to tho Supplement. N e ith e r of tbese two works has been
discovered as y e t in an y of th e European lib r a r ie s , bu t
M. A. von Kremer purchased in Egypt, in 1877, a compendium
of tb e la tte r work, which, with his wonted lib e ra lity ,
be a t once placed a t our disposal. Prof. L o th gave a
description of it in th e Zeitscbrift der Deutsohen Morgenl.
Gosellschaft, X X X II, 581 seqq., and readily undertook the
task of prep arin g an edition of it, to be published a t tbe
end of th e Annals, to g e th e r with tb e Supplements to Tabari
by Arib and Hamdâni, which I myself will p repare for tbe
press.
I cannot finish this notice without expressing once more
tbe warmest th an k s of my collaborators and myself to all,
who b y th e ir generous support have made th is publication
possible.
A lte r mense Ju n ii 1881:
Tbe six th and seventh half-volumes of Tab ari appear in
mourning. W e have lost one of our best collaborators, Prof.
0 . Loth of Leipzig, who died suddenly, a fter a v e ry short
illness, on th e 18*'» of March la st, aged only 38 years. Loth
spent la st autumn in Constantinople, in order to collate Tabari-
raanuscripts for himself and Prof. P rym , and went th en ce to
E g y p t, where he stayed several weeks with his friend Dr.
Spitta-Bey, Director of tb e Khédivial lib ra ry a t Cairo. He
examined here tb e fine and ^ complete manuscript of T ab a ri’s
g re a t commentary on th e Coran, a work which Moslem au th o rities
consider as T ab a ri’s masterpiece. F o r ce rta in passages
of th e A n n a ls, especially in th e life of Mohammed, tbis
commentary affords very useful corrections and explanations.
M. Spitta-Bey had ju s t acquired in Damascus a v e ry old
manuscript, containing tbe la tte r p a rt of tb e lite ot th e proINTHODUCTIO.