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x the authorities consulted have been studied by him from original sources, he has confined his references chiefly to his Typical Selections from old Bengali Literature. He has done so for the convenience of those readers who may wish to read the passages for themselves.

This book, it is feared, will not command a general interest, as the subject has a limited outlook. Its interest is restricted to those students who may wish to acquire a knowledge of the linguistic features of a particular period of our literature. At the same time it is calculated to be of some use to those scholars who want to obtain a thorough knowledge of the ever-changing forms of our progressive speech, and to such, however limited the scope of the present work may be, it may not fail to throw light on important linguistic points involved. Written under peculiar difficulties as this book has been, the achievement of this result was only possible owing to the constant encouragement received from the present Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University to whom the book is dedicated as a token of gratitude.

The readers will see that the subject, of which a brief outline only was given in one of the closing chapters of the author’s History of Bengali Language and Literature, has been greatly elaborated by him in the present work, abundant new materials having been brought to