For bibliophiles & collectors of rare books on linguistics, Indology and Jainism, we are pleased to offer an extremely rare and hard-to-find First Edition set of the internationally-acclaimed Illustrated Quadrilingual Ardha-magadhi Dictionary. This colossal set of five volumes was a pioneering landmark in the Ardha-magadhi language. It was meticulously conceived by the great Jain sage Muni Shri Ratnachandraji Maharaj in the early 1920s. In this dictionary, the entire literary, philosophic & scientific vocabulary of Ardha-Magadhi has been explained in four languages: Sanskrit, English, Gujarati, Hindi. Quotations from Jain texts explain the exact connotation of the word and its standard usage along with its pronunciation. The text is illustrated with several drawings and diagrams of Jain phenomena.
This comprehensive set of five volumes was published over a period of 15 years from 1923 to 1938. The publication of these rare First Editions was subscription based. Only a few hundred copies of the first four volumes were published for subscribers and the last volume was limited to 500 copies only. Hence, this complete set of all the five First Edition volumes is exceedingly rare.
Many images of these rare First Editions are attached herewith for the perusal of those interested.
AN ILLUSTRATED ARDHA-MAGADHI DICT
Compiled by: Muni Shri Ratnachandraji Maharaj
Introduction by: Prof. A. C. Woolner
Language: Quadrilingual i.e. Ardha-Magadhi into Sanskrit, English, Gujarati & Hindi.
Publisher: S. S. Jaina Conference, 1923 to 1938 — Extremely Rare Original First Edition
Years of Publication: 1923 (Vol. 1); 1927 (Vol. 2); 1930 (Vol. 3); 1932 (Vol. 4); 1938 (Vol. 5).
Format: Hardcover
Total no. of pages of all the five volumes: 4250+ pages. Richly illustrated with several monochrome drawings, diagrams and large fold-outs.
Condition of the pages: Pre-owned. Very Good — Excellent. Pages clean and unmarked. Original tight binding. Natural yellowing/foxing and minor discoloration of a few pages owing to age. The folds of a large tabular illustration have been professionally restored & fortified for future protection.
Condition of the covers: Pre-owned. Fair — Good. The original covers are fully intact with minor shelf-wear along the edges/corners owing to age. Natural toning/fading and minor spotting on some of the covers owing to age & use. The covers have been neatly wrapped in an acetate film for future protection.
Inscriptions: These rare First Editions originally belonged to a Jain researcher who was one of the first subscribers of this set. His name is rubber-stamped in the bottom margin of the initial title pages & the last page of each volume.
Total weight of all the five volumes: 7.4 kg.
Remarks: The value of this particular set of books lies in its being the Original First Edition published between 1923 and 1938. These particular First Editions are extremely rare, especially the complete set with all the five volumes intact.
