First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This biography of Alexander Csoma de Körös compiles mostly unpublished data, as well as a brief notice of each of his published works and essays, and his extant manuscripts. Csoma de Körös was a Hungarian philologist and Orientalist, who first studied Tibetan Buddhism and helped to create the first Tibetan-English dictionary. This book provides insight into the life and works of a notable scholar, and sheds light on his contributions to the field of Oriental studies. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1885 edition. Excerpt: ...in aspect and sterile in production. Additional interest is thrown over those mighty scenes of the Himalayas in the curious fact, which has recently come to my knowledge, of the discovery in an obscure spot of Kunawur of a relic of the Eomish missionaries' work on Tibet, the Speculum Veritatis, bearing a date of 1678. This curious record was picked up by the Eev. Mr. W., whom I met with in my travels, and then little thought that so precious a fragment would have found its way into his hands, judging from an observation on first meeting him on the northern face of the Himalaya. The fragment of literature acquired by Mr. "W. (which I suspect is part of Andrada's mission) has been sent to Mr. Csoma for elucidation, and I expect soon to hear of its contents. "In all this, I have only been able to trace a margin of a new and gigantic map; we must look to the central plateau of Tartary for that knowledge which we have seen indicated elsewhere, and a grander field as regards natural aspect and configuration could not be selected, an aspect barren, it is true, but interesting from the grandeur of its barrenness, and concealing under its rugged and forbidding features, resources the most varied and estimable to science, literature, and art. To speak of those positive advantages in respect of climate and production even within our territory: such is the aridity of the interior of Kunawar that the roots of the rheum palmatum, which I dug up from amidst patches of snow on the slope of the pass in the Himalayan chain in the end of June, were already dry and pulverisable the following month, and moist opium received from Kotgarh in July became brittle and fit to be powdered in August, while in Calcutta this is impracticable in the driest season...

First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1885 Edition.

In 1819 a Hungarian scholar set off on a 30 year odyssey in search of his own identity and origins of the Magyar people. He ended up in Ladakh where he found himself decoding the mysteries of Tibetan culture for the British government.