Page:History of Bengali Literature in the Nineteenth Century.djvu/105

 EARLIEST EUROPEAN WRITERS §1 In 1778! Halhed compiled and printed in English a Grammar of the Bengal Language,* Grammar of the Ben. 076 01 the earliest and for some time gal Language, 1778. the best introduction to the sc.entific study of the language.® At this time we had no printing press possessing a set of Bengali punches, and the art of printing unknown, we had_ hardly any printed literature before this Honea Bel wee date. The history of the printing of this work, which was done in a press at “Hoogly in Bengal” marks an era in_ the history of Bengali literature. It is chiefly to the exertions of the ever memorable Caxton of Bengal, Charles (afterwards Sir Charles) Wilkins, a Bengal Civilian and oriental scholar, that we are indebted for the beautiful types which he had himself prepared and in which art he had instructed the Bengali mechanics, thus in- troducing, as he did, the art of printing into this country. It is impossible to exaggerate the services thus rendered by this philanthropic Englishman, not only to the cause of vernacular literature but also to the general culture of Smith, Life of Carey, repeats the mistake (New Ed. 1912, p. 159). Halhed. Printed at Hoogly in Bengal. MDCCLXXVIII (1778). The book is very scarce but copies may be found in the Calentta Imperial Library, Baigiya S4hitya Pariyat Library and Srirémpur College Library. traced, was, as we have seen, in Portuguese. A curious request ৪ appears in the Calcutta Gazette, April 23, 1789, beseeching “any gentleman” to undertake for public benefit the composition of a Bengali Grammar (Seton-Karr, Selections from Cal. Gazette, ii, 497) It seems that by that time Halhed’s Grammar had already become scarce and the necessity for a fresh grammar was keenly felt. ll
 * The date is not 1784 as given in the Bengal Obituary, p. 337
 * A Grammar of the Bengal Language by Nathaniel Brassey
 * The first Bengali grammar and dictionary, so far as it can be