THE HISTORY OF NADIR SHAH, FORMERLY CALLED THAMAS KULI KHAN, THE PRESENT EMPEROR OF PERSIA. TO WHICH IS PREFIX'D A SHORT HISTORY OF THE MOGHOL EMPERORS. AT THE END IS INSERTED A CATALOGUE OF ABOUT TWO HUNDRED MANUSCRIPTS IN THE PERSIC AND OTHER ORIENTAL LANGUAGES, COLLECTED IN THE EAST
London, England: W. Strahan, for the author, 1742. First Edition. Hardcover. Octavo, 8 in. x 4.8 in.. pp. vi, 234, [5] (index), [1] (errata), 40. Inexpensive, sturdy rebinding in green cloth with white title to spine. Illustrated with frontis and fold-out map of "The Moghol Empire and Part of Tartary". Newer endpapers. Very clean copy internally. Previous owner's name in ink to top of title page. A few worm holes in the margins through page 46. Very Good. Item #81398
James Fraser (1713–1754), author and collector of oriental manuscripts, born in 1713, was the son of Alexander Fraser (d. 1733) of Reelick, near Inverness. He paid two visits to India, where he resided at Surat. During his first stay (1730-40) he acquired a working knowledge of Zend from Parsi teachers and of Sanskrit from a learned Brahman. He also collected materials for an account of Nadir Shah, who invaded India in 1737-8. Coming home for about two years, he published his book. He then went out again as a factor in the East India Company's service, and became a member of the council at Surat, where he remained for six years.
Fraser's publication was the first book in English treating of Nadir Shah, 'the scourge of God.' It is important not only as a first-hand contribution to the history of contemporary events, but also for the number of original documents which it alone has preserved. At the end of his book the author gives a list of about two hundred oriental manuscripts, including Zend and Sanskrit, which he had purchased at Surat, Cambay, and Ahmedabad. His claim that his 'Sanskerrit' manuscripts formed 'the first collection of that kind ever brought into Europe' appears to be valid, though single Sanskrit manuscripts had reached England and France even earlier. His collection currently is curated at Oxford University. (from DNB).
Price: $625.00