Dear
Colleagues,
I should like to
draw your attention to a new publication in the field of Vedic studies:
Alfred Ludwigs
englische Übersetzung des Rigveda (1886–1893).
1. Teil: Bücher I–V.
Herausgegeben von Raik Strunz. Preface by Walter Slaje. [Veröffentlichungen
der Indologischen Kommission der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur,
Mainz. 6]. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Publishers 2019. pp. XXXII, 622; 1 Portrait,
1 Image. 78,00 Eur. ISBN: 978-3-447-11306-9
Alfred Ludwig, full professor of comparative
linguistics at the then German University in Prague (born 1832 in Vienna, died
1912 in Prague), was a pioneer in research pertaining to the Rigveda. He translated the Rigveda
completely into German for the very first time (1876) and was the first to open
up the content of the Rigveda by means of a multi-volume commentary
(1878-1888). The fact that Ludwig, in the aftermath of his German translation of this important literary document,
had also produced an English translation of the Rigveda between the years 1886
and 1893, which at the same time proved to be the first scholarly translation
into English, remained entirely unnoticed by the Vedicist and Indological communities. Ludwig
could not publish his completed translation during his lifetime.
Shortly after his death, his handwritten translation was purchased by the
University of Oxford. It was tacitly taken into custody by the Boden professor at
the time, Arthur Anthony Macdonell (1854-1930) and left to the Max Müller
Memorial Fund in Oxford only after his death.
With
Maṇḍalas I-V, the first half of Ludwig’s English translation of the Rigveda is now
brought to light. The publication of the second half, containing Maṇḍalas VI-X,
is under preparation.
For all
titles in this series, see:
Kindly
regarding,
Walter
Slaje