BY
THEODORE DUKA, M.D.
FELLOW OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND;
SURGEON-MAJOR HER MAJESTY’S BENGAL MEDICAL SERVICE, RETIRED;
KNIGHT OF THE ORDER OF THE IRON CROWN;
CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF HUNGARY

LONDON:
TRÜBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL.
1885.
[All rights reserved.]

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Ballantyne Press
BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.
EDINBURGH AND LONDON [[v]]

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PREFACE.

Scanty as are the authentic data from which this biography was compiled, they form, nevertheless, a connected narrative of the chief events in the life of a remarkable man of science, who, although a foreigner, never published anything but in the English tongue. Few, if any, foreign savants have been honoured by Englishmen as he was; a fact to which the memorial standing over his grave bears ample testimony.

It is hoped that the reader will follow with sympathy the details of an arduous scientific career, the best years of which were offered to the service of the British Government, and will agree with us also in thinking that Alexander Csoma de Körös attained in some measure the reward he looked for, in so far that his name will never be omitted from any work bearing upon Tibetan literature or Buddhistic learning.

This biography is herewith presented to the reader in the sincere hope of a generous indulgence for its many [[vi]]shortcomings, although the production of it, imperfect as it is, has, in the circumstances under which it was prepared, necessitated the attention of many years before it could be brought to its present state of completion.

When the late Mr. Nicholas Trübner first saw the manuscript of this book, he at once kindly expressed his readiness to undertake its publication, and even suggested the desirability of editing a complete collection of all the works and essays of Csoma de Körös, which, at the present time, are only to be found scattered over many volumes of publications, extending over a period of more than thirty years. Perhaps Mr. Trübner’s successors may see their way to carry out the project he had in view, and to rescue, for the benefit of European students, the important work in manuscript which is noticed in the Appendix xvi. at page 207 of this volume.