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The contributions of the Jains to the Indian Culture and sciences have been so vast that the history of India will be incomplete without a reference to them. But, of the three great religions of India-Jainism, Buddhism and Brahmanism, Jainism has been least studied and most misunderstood for want of proper knowledge of the available literature. But still it is a matter of great pleasure and encouragement that the great French scholar, Dr. A. Guerinot supplied the want to some extent by publishing his valuable volumes "Essai De Bibliographie Jaina" in 1906 and "Repertoire d'Epigraphie Jaina" in 1908. These books have been of great help to scholars and students interested in the study of Jainism.
Preface (First edition)
Much has been done in the field of Jaina study and many books have been published and numerous articles have appeared in the Indian and foreign journals, since the days of Dr. Guerinot. So it was my long desire to follow the foot-steps of the great French savant and supplement his works by bringing out two more volumes. containing all available information about Jainism from 1906. With that aim in view I went on taking down notes of references to Jains and Jainism from works on various subjects. As an humble student I had the privilege of working at the (Royal) Asiatic Society of Bengal for a number of years and this gave me the facility of using the books of the society. I have also referred to the collections of the Imperial Library and some other libraries.
In the volume which is now published, I have excluded almost all the references found in Guerinot's books mentioned above and I have taken care to bring in all references not found in his works and all those published between 1906 and 1925. Bibliography of the books, publithed since 1925 up-to-date will appear in another volume which is now under preparation.
I have to point out here, the departure I have made from the lines of Guerinot. While he has issued a separate volume for Jaina Epigraphy, I have included it under a separate section in this work. Almost all the references given in this book relate to the books written in English and other European languages.
Calcutta, 25 July, 1945 Sravan Krsna Pratipada Vir Sambat 2471
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