Indian Palaeography c12.s2.8

c12.s2.8

It is almost impossible to reproduce on paper all the peculiarities of the writer and the engraver. The photographs and the tracings of the inscriptions hitherto published do not tell us as much as we can learn from the original stone. Moreover, one cannot be certain whether one has given all the variations of a particular letter unless one traces all its occurrences in the inscriptions. Herein lies a difference between handwriting and mechanical reproduction. The most important point is to find the manner in which the letters were actually formed; once we discover this, the shapes emerge of themselves. In Pls. III and IV, illustrating Aśokan Brāhmī, no attempt has been made to trace the letters. They have been copied from the published photographs after determining the various methods of their formation, and this process has given the important varieties. It has also helped to correct many mistakes made by earlier palaeographers. The letters have not been drawn to scale, as this was not possible from the published photographs, and hence no conclusion should be derived from the drawings as regards their size and proportion. The rare types are shown in brackets.