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JONES, William.
A Grammar of the Persian Language.
The second edition, with an index.
Second edition, expanded by the addition of a new Persian–English glossary at the end; first published in 1771. This was the first lexicography of the leading English orientalist of his era, "a text which simultaneously established his international reputation as Oriental or Persian Jones, inaugurated the literary trend later identified as romantic orientalism, and represented a work of utility in the training of East India Company writers. Persian was the official language at the courts of nawabs and Mughal princes, and the fact that a grammar might prove valuable intellectual property was evidenced by the attempted piracy of Jones's proofs. … While he appreciated that commercial and colonial interest 'was the charm which gave the languages of the East a real and solid importance', Jones provided a poets' grammar which transcended utility and served as a primer of Persian verse for generations of writers from Lord Byron and Thomas Moore to Edward FitzGerald and Alfred Tennyson" (ODNB).
Quarto. Contemporary calf, rebacked with spine attractively gilt in compartments laid down, Signet Library copy with gilt arms on both covers. A few contemporary annotations. Rubbed, corner tips restored, a very good copy, clean and well-margined.
