________________
xii
Preface
Institute for the year 1939-40. It is, therefore, unnecessary for me to record it in this preface, which is confined only to the progress of my work under the departmental scheme of Cataloguing indicated above. The last volume according to this arrangement was published in 1937 and the present volume is being pub ished three years since then. This delay is due to want of funds, and unless the Government of Bombay sanctions a special grant to the Institute to print off the press-copies of no less than 25 volumes now ready for publication, the present rate of progress in the publication of these catalogues cannot be improved, though the Institute realizes full well the handicap under which scholars, desiring to use the manuscripts in the Govt. Mss. library, have been working since the year 1866 when the first collection of these manuscripts was made by Government.
In the preparation of this volume I have made use of numerous manuscript catalogues, descriptive or otherwise. In particular I am indebted to the History of Sanskrit Literature by Dr. A. B. Keith. I have also occasionally consulted the History of Classical Sanskrit Literature by Dr. M. Krishnamachariar, published in 1937,
During the last fifteen years my daily contact with the Mss. in the Govt. Mss. Library has led me to the investigation of numerous problems pertaining to the history and chronology of several authors of Sanskrit works. The results of this investigation are already before the world of scholars in the form of my papers contributed to several Oriental Journals, Commemoration Volumes and Proceedings of learned bodies. In April 1939 I published a Bibliography of my 166 research papers (from 1916 to 1939 ) in response to the requests of several research workers. I propose to bring out in 1941 a revised edition of this Bibliography which is expected to contain a record of about 200 papers of mine (from 1916 to 1941). A majority of the papers included in this Biblicgraphy are based on Mss. in the Govt. Mss. library as also Mss. procured from outside libraries. I must, therefore, thank the Executive Board of the Institute for their kindness in entrusting to me the departmental work of the Descriptive Catalogue of Govt.