भारतीय पराचीन लिपिमाला (Bharatiya Pracina Lipimala: The Palaeography of India) c3.2

c3.2

To a student of the early history of India a thorough acquaintance with the various alphabets in use in ancient India and their correlation is necessary. The great obstacle, however, to the cultivation of the study of Indian Palæography was the absence of a single book dealing with the subject as a whole--a book by means of which the subject could be studied without the help of a teacher. The materials for such study are to be found in English and other European languages. Numerous facsimilies, transcripts, translations, dissertations, comments and criticisms have, from time to time, appeared in various Government publications and the journals of learned societies. The volume and expense of these publications, however, place them out of the reach of the ordinary student, who has no means of referring to them unless he happens to reside in a large town which has a good library.